The Wanderers
by Gazimu
Summary: After the Giant War, the Ceremonies to award the Demigods for their efforts doesn't quite go how said Demigods expected, but they're nothing if not adaptable.
1. Prologue: My Crazy Cousin Saves My Life

**AN: So uh, before the panic sets in...**

**This is just me releasing an unfinished work that's been sitting in my writing folders for years untouched. I believe it used to be mentioned on my Profile page. I have no idea if Have a Goode Year will get any updates, and if it did they'd be aimed at bringing the story to a close quicker than originally planned out. This Fic has a Prologue, 11 finished Chapters and one unfinished Chapter, and I can either release it all in one blob or a chapter a day or something, let me know which you'd rather.**

**Percy**

Twenty Minutes.

Twenty Minutes since the King of the Gods had sentenced me to death in front of the Olympian Council.

Of course, others had been there to witness it. The rest of the Seven, Thalia, Nico, Reyna. And of course Hestia, tending the flames of Olympus quietly.

Now, was I dead? Obviously not. Instead, I was sitting atop a hill alone somewhere in Switzerland, thanks to my clinically insane Cousin Nico. Not that I was complaining. I'd seen the underworld more than once, and the Swiss hillside was just a tad nicer.

After we'd sent Gaea back to sleep, letting her take her annoying Giant offspring with her, we'd made our way back to Camp with hopes of relaxing, getting a little break and seeing our friends. Somehow Reyna and Nico had convinced the Romans to stop their war plans and gotten them together with the Greeks, settling some differences and avoiding a very bloody outcome that had seemed all but certain.

Naturally, being me, peace and quiet was just too much to ask for. We, the Seven, plus Nico and Reyna, were summoned to Olympus by the Gods. We arrived at the same time as Thalia and her hunters, who'd been recalled by Artemis. I was starting to wonder if maybe, Artemis bringing Thalia to Olympus at the same time that we were brought there was not a random coincidence.

When we arrived in the throne room, going through all the formalities and such, before Zeus got right down to the point. I could still remember the whole thing perfectly…

"_PERCY JACKSON!" Zeus boomed, his expression was surprisingly hard as he looked down at me. You'd think the guy would look a little more thankful when addressing the Demigod who had saved his bacon twice now._

_Regardless, I stepped forward, bowing to him directly, though my gesture went towards the whole council. It was a lot better than trying to bow to all twelve individually, as Leo had hinted he was going to do just to see their reactions._

"_You have become powerful," Zeus began in an emotionless tone. I frowned, wondering where exactly he was going with a statement like that. "It has come to the attention of the Council that a Demigod with such power is a significant threat to us and our children." My heart sank, shock written on my face. Obviously, this was not going to end with me getting another offer of immortality to refuse._

_I took the chance to look at the faces of the other gods, Athena, as usual, looked down at me with an annoyed expression, I could tell right away that she had no problem with this speech. Heck, she probably helped write it. A few gods, Dionysus, Demeter, Hera and Hades, looked indifferent. I expected as much from them._

_The twin Archers were keeping straight faces, but as I met both of their eyes individually, I could see the pity. The fact that Apollo was even paying attention and not listening to music should have set off a few red lights in my head, but it was too late to heed any warning. Hermes was not attempting to hide the discomfort shown on his face over the situation. We'd had a bumpy history, but I liked him, and judging by his expression, he either really had to go to the bathroom, or he didn't want to be here for whatever was coming._

_Hephaestus had busied himself by tinkering absentmindedly with some metal, which reminded me a lot of Leo. Fitting, since they were father and son. He kept looking over at our group, but not at me. He was looking at Leo nervously. I couldn't really know what was on his mind, which figured. Of course the god who wasn't good with people would have impossible to read emotions._

_I didn't bother looking at Aphrodite, I could feel see out of the corner of my eye that she had her focus on Zeus._

_Gee, I thought, Apollo and Aphrodite both paying attention at a meeting. I'm definitely going to die._

_I couldn't bring myself to meet my father's gaze, I knew he was looking at me, but I wouldn't be able to stand it seeing his expression, it would just make things worse for me._

_Instead, I looked to my favourite God besides Poseidon, Hestia. She gazed at me and gave me a faint smile, it made my anxiety fade slightly, as if she was telling me that this wasn't the end._

_But Zeus was still going on, and his speech only had one end result._

"_With that," my attention turned back to Zeus. "I have decided that it is best to destroy you, despite the wishes of the Council. This matter is serious and so I'm overruling the decision of the council for our own good"_

_With that delightful note, my friends pulled themselves out of their stunned silence, the shouts and objections of nine demigods filled the air of the throne room. I could hear the loudest of them from Annabeth behind me, and Thalia at the feet of Artemis._

_I almost grinned. The daughter of Zeus was shouting profanities at her father. Artemis seemed to have no urge to stop her, and as our eyes met I could swear she gave me a very small, amused smile before returning her eyes to her Lieutenant._

_I decided, that I would do one last favour for Zeus, and save my anger for later. I held up my hands in a gesture to yield and shouted as loudly as I could manage, "QUIET!"_

_At first I was surprised by the dead silence that followed, but then it dawned on me that I'd probably been pretty loud, with how angry I am. Even Zeus looked a little flustered. _

_I figured this wasn't going to help my case in being too powerful, but at least I could say I outdid Zeus at being a loudmouth once._

_Zeus opened his mouth to speak hesitantly, as if he was contemplating actually thanking me for quieting my friends before he turned me to ashes in front of them._

_I took one last glance at Thalia, giving her a crooked grin to reassure her, and then turned my head to see my friends at least once more. Lastly, I looked Annabeth in the eyes._

_She was what I was going to miss most. Even seeing her with tears in her eyes right now, I knew she'd never be anything less than perfect to me. I mouthed the words 'I love you' to her, smiling sadly, and turned back to face Zeus._

_I hadn't noticed the fact that Nico had not been amongst the others._

_Zeus raised his bolt, and I hoped one of the gods would stop him, my father wouldn't let me die, right?_

"_Let's get this over with, just remember that I'm pretty hard to kill" I muttered, glaring at Zeus. If I was going to die, there was no way I'd be able to forgive myself without throwing out a cheesy one liner. Hopefully one day my friends would look back on their memories of me and be able to smile or get a few laughs out of it. _

_Percy Jackson, defiantly annoying to his last._

_I saw the Master Bolt cackle with electricity as it charged up to fire, and wondered what it would feel like to get hit by the most powerful weapon ever created._

_The light from its discharge blinded me, and I felt the impact. My only thoughts were, huh… not so bad. _

_Then everything went dark._


	2. The Gods Get Told Off

**Annabeth**

I stared at the charred ground in shock, not believing what I just saw. I had to hold back a laugh of pure joy.

I met Poseidon's eyes and gave him a faint smile of reassurance, letting him know that what he just saw wasn't his imagination. The Gods and Demigods in the room had shock etched on their faces, aside from Hades. He held a smug grin, and I wondered if he cared more for Percy than we all thought.

He could always just be feeling prideful at his son's bravery, standing up to Zeus and saving Percy by Shadow Travelling him away.

"How dare they." Zeus muttered angrily. He turned to Hades, "Are they alive? Perseus and your son, Nico." He spat out the name bitterly, like he considered him a betrayer.

Hades remained silent for a moment before responding with an even tone, "No, the two have escaped unharmed. You've just angered them Zeus."

"Why should I care if they're angry, they're just demigods!" Zeus exclaimed. At this, Thalia lost her composure and snorted. All the gods turned to her and she just looked back at them, unfazed.

"Nico is one of the most powerful demigods alive. He's battled Giants and a Titan and fought in multiple wars, you underestimate him too much" Artemis seemed to whisper something to Thalia, which made her sit back down and relent from speaking further.

I took it as a cue to step in, I wasn't about to let them off the hook for trying to kill Percy. "Besides that," I began, seeing my mother's eyes widen slightly at hearing my voice speak up. I refused to look at her though, she had been in agreement with Zeus's plan, no doubt, and if she wanted to get rid of Percy, she was going to lose me.

"Percy IS the most powerful demigod to ever exist, I challenge anyone in this room to deny it." Zeus and Hera seemed to glance behind me at the rest of the Seven, specifically Jason, and Zeus also glanced at Thalia, but neither God spoke up. I turned in time to see Jason shake his head at their glances at him, "Don't look at me, he's way out of my weight division" he said reluctantly. The other demigods, including Thalia, nodded in agreement.

"Now you've tried to kill him because you fear he's going to turn against you. Which, let's face it, he's not going to do. In case you all forgot, his fatal flaw is loyalty. Turning on the Gods means turning on Poseidon and all of his Demigod friends, and every other God or Goddess he respects. He just wouldn't do it." I concluded, the Gods who likely voted against the idea looked down solemnly, but the others, my mother included, were stoic and stubbornly resolute in their decision. "Although, you've given him a reason to turn on some of you now, by betraying him. And as Hades said, you've made him angry, and you do not want to make Percy Angry."

Zeus scoffed in dismissal, "How bad could it be." He retorted, glaring at me.

I smirked and nodded towards the Lord of the Dead, "Why don't you ask Hades, I hear he angered Percy once before the Titan War"

All eyes turned to Hades, who shrugged lightly, "The boy may have wiped out half of my undead army by controlling the Styx and then destroyed the rest with his sword before knocking me down and threatening me" he must have realized how volatile this made Percy seem, and added in something else, "This coming after I tricked Nico into bringing him to me and throwing him in a Cell."

Poseidon's eyes were wide, "None of my children have ever had control over the Styx before"

This seemed to sober Zeus's arrogance slightly. I smirked, "He's also controlled the waters of the Cocytus for a short time while we were in it" I added, though mentioning it brought forth memories of being in Tartarus that were still fresh.

Poseidon seemed at a loss for words, but there was a very evident glint of pride in his eyes.

Zeus, while quieted, didn't seem fully convinced.

I just shrugged as the Gods kept their eyes on me, expecting me to continue. "If that's not enough for you, I suppose you could ask Akhlys"

Athena, in a rare occurrence, stuttered as she spoke, "You met Akhlys?"

I waved my hand nonchalantly, as if it were nothing. "Yep, she attacked us and Percy ended up beating her by using her own Poison against her."

I didn't bother waiting for things to settle in, "Anyways, I just felt you should know that. Also I'd hope you don't have any enemies rising to kill you soon, because you just tried to kill your best fighter, and I sure don't plan on fighting on your side anymore" I turned and began walking towards the exit. Behind me, I heard some shuffling and a couple surprised yells, turning in time to see Zeus fire his Master Bolt at me before Poseidon knocked it to the ground. I braced for the impact, but just like for Percy, I never felt the impact of the bolt.

Thalia, impulsively, had used her Huntress speed to get to me before her father fired at me, and opened her shield, Aegis, deflecting the blow into the ceiling. She turned to me, her expression hard. "Go, I'll make sure they don't bother you." She turned to the others and motioned for them to follow me. Jason gave her a concerned glance but she just smirked and walked back towards the Gods, putting her shield away.

We quickly left the throne room and headed to the elevator. Leo broke the silence, hopping around as we walked, "So how do we get to Percy? I doubt Nico would take him to the Camp, the Gods would be able to sense him there." He said, I glanced at him momentarily, surprised he'd said something that made sense, and wasn't a joke.

I shrugged, "We can't find him, he could be anywhere in the world"

Jason nodded, following my train of thought, "We just have to wait for him to get in touch with us, probably through Nico."

Reyna spoke up next, "We need to get to the Camp though, they all need to know the truth. We don't know if Jupiter or any of the others will try to fabricate a story to get them against Percy."

I grinned, "Yea, and Thalia ought to keep them busy for a little while, just long enough to get to camp."

**Nico**

Okay, so this was definitely not how I'd thought the return to Olympus would go. As soon as Zeus had started his big rant about Percy, I knew where it was going. By the time Percy seemed to catch on and looked around the room at everyone, I was already moving. Even then, I barely managed to get to him in time.

I didn't have time to register where I was shadow travelling to, my only thought was to get somewhere quiet and safe.

An empty hillside in the middle of Europe did the trick. Then I had to leave a dazed and confused Percy there so I could do something.

My dad had known exactly what I was planning the moment we looked at each other. He'd just nodded and smiled. I took that as enough proof to trust him for help.

Sadly, Hades was not in the Underworld to visit, he was on Olympus, and I got the feeling I wouldn't be welcomed there at the moment.

Instead, I showed up in the forests at Camp. I needed to talk to my dad, and the first thing that came to mind was the brazier in the dining pavilion. I quietly made my way there, there was no telling if the Campers had been lied to and would attack me if they saw me, or, worse, one of the Gods was here to see if Percy and I had come here.

Luckily, everyone seemed to be elsewhere, and the pavilion was empty. This plan would have gone down the drain pretty quickly if I'd shown up during Lunch or something, I thought dryly.

I grabbed one of the plates off the Hades table and made a meal appear, taking it to the brazier.

Dumping the whole plateful of food in for effect, I sent a prayer to my father, "Hades, I need to know which Gods I can trust."

I hadn't realized that I'd spoken it aloud until someone cleared their throat. I looked up with wide, shocked eyes, but felt an urge to relax as I saw it was Chiron. As nice as Chiron was, though, I couldn't afford to let my guard down, not yet.

"Nico, when did you get here?" he asked, perplexed. His eyebrows were furrowed, and he examined me warily, probably wondering why I was so tense.

"Not long ago" I said quickly, "Has anyone else gotten here? From Olympus?"

Chiron shook his head, "Not yet, why do you ask, my boy?"

I realized very quickly that Chiron was both completely in the dark on the current situation, and was just plain worried about the others, especially Percy.

I relaxed and sadness flickered through my features momentarily, not going unnoticed by the old Centaur. "Oh dear, has something happened?" he asked, his tail swishing nervously as he did so.

I let out a sigh, "Well, I had to grab Percy and get him out of the throne room very quickly, I don't know anything that happened after that, but that was about thirty minutes ago."

His face morphed into one of confusion, "Why did Percy have to leave the throne room?"

"Zeus decided it would be best to rid the Gods of a potential threat" I said, unwilling to say out loud that he tried to kill Percy.

Mixed emotions flashed on Chiron's face, sadness, confusion, relief, surprisingly, anger as well. It was not often that Chiron was ever angry.

"I see" he said, frowning, "What else can you tell me?" Nico shook his head slightly, "That's about all I know. I don't know what Gods can be trusted, aside from Poseidon and Hades. I don't know what has happened since I left Olympus, but I know the others are all alive, and probably on their way to camp, if they're smart"

Chiron composed himself, as if searching his mind for guidance to give to me. Once a teacher, always a teacher.

"I'd find it greatly surprising if you could not trust Lady Hestia, the last I heard, she has quite the soft spot for you and Percy. Besides that, it would make sense for your father to support you. Aside from the fact you're his son, you've sided with Percy and therefore Poseidon, two people Hades likes more than he likes Lord Zeus."

I shrugged, "Athena's actions made it clear that she was supporting the idea, Ares and Hera seemed pretty happy with themselves as well." I thought about adding in Dionysus as well, but held my tongue, as he didn't really seem swayed to either side at the meeting, and he was probably most likely to hear his name at camp and respond to it like a summons when he found out I said it. He was the Camp Director, after all.

Chiron seemed very troubled, but he finally broke the silence, "I shall wait until the others arrive to find out more, they will know what happened after you left, and you need to leave and go back to Percy."

He turned and slowly began back towards the big house before turning his head to make one final remark, "Remember to keep your heads down and identities secret wherever you go, the Gods could be anywhere. I don't want to lose either of you." I nodded, unsure of how to otherwise respond to him implying he cared about me. I shook my head, and with a small smile on my face. Finally, I heard my father's voice in my head as I stepped into the shadows, as he listed the names of the Gods who Percy could trust.

**Percy**

I'd been sitting idly on the hill for over half an hour, lost in my own thoughts. So I can't really be blamed if I jumped three feet backwards in surprise when Nico appeared out of thin air right in front of me.

"Gods Nico!" I shouted, he just chuckled at me.

I noticed that he had a backpack with him now, and he followed my gaze and seemed to be noticing it for the first time too. He quickly took it off and set the pack on the ground, unzipping it, he pulled out some clothes, including two hoodies, before finding a note. He read it quickly, a smile growing across his face as he did, and then handed me the note.

"_Figured you two would need some supplies, keep the hoods up, they're enchanted to darken your face from view."_

I set the note down, "Who's it from?" Nico was emptying the bag of its contents and laying them out in the grass to see what we had.

"I'd guess Hades, I prayed to him for advice, so maybe that let him know where I was. That or he can sense shadow travel and put it on me then"

I nodded quickly, scanning all the supplies, we had four hoodies, two for each of us, two smaller black ones for Nico, and then two green ones for me. Along with some jeans and tee shirts for the both of us.

Hades had also given us a few bottles of nectar, and a big bag of ambrosia squares. Aside from a regular first aid kit and some celestial bronze knives. He'd even thought to put in a pouch full of drachmas and around 200$ worth of mortal money, although we'd have to exchange it for Euros or something, if we were staying in Switzerland…

We split the money and drachmas evenly between us, since it only seemed fair.

"Good thing Hades loves you" I said, grinning down at the supplies.

Nico shrugged, putting it all back into the pack, except for one of each hoodie. "I'm pretty sure if you prayed to Poseidon you'd get the same thing, but that might be risky, they'll be watching Poseidon, knowing he's on your side."

I nodded in agreement, a second bag of supplies would be awesome, but there was no way to tell if they'd be able to find out where I was because my dad knew. Hades was probably under a lot less scrutiny, even though Nico was his son, he hadn't acted very concerned, besides, he wasn't known as someone who liked me.

We put on the hoodies and then flipped up the hoods to test them out. I turned to face Nico, seeing that his face was blotted out by the shadows, leaving only an outline. "Whoa" I exclaimed, grinning.

Nico nodded his head, probably in approval, "I wish I'd had one of these all my life. I could scare so many people!"

I shook my head at his antics, "That's creepy."

He ignored my comment and held out his arm, "Come on, we're gonna go to a nearby town and grab something to eat, I think we have a lot to talk about"

He had a point, besides, I was starving. I reached out and gripped his arm, plunging into darkness again.

We appeared in a quiet alleyway, I looked around at all the buildings, and it crossed my mind that Annabeth would kill to be in Europe, looking at all the architecture and the history of everything. I wondered how she'd reacted after Nico and I escaped, hoping she was alright.

I figured at the least, she and the others were alive, Nico would have said something otherwise. He wasn't the type of person to avoid things like that.

Nico signalled for me to follow him, and so I did, keeping our hoods raised. He turned and made his way down the street, stopping and entering one of the doors. I looked at the sign above it and saw a coffee cup logo.

I pushed through the door of the Café and sat at one of the booths with Nico. We looked at each other, somehow coming to a silent agreement to take off the hoods, despite the fact we couldn't even see each other's faces. I noticed that one of the employees had been looking at us warily, and her expression softened considerably once we took off the hoods, revealing two teenagers.

We must've looked pretty intimidating with the hoods on.

The same employee came over to us to take our order. She looked fairly young, probably early twenties, with curly red hair and blue eyes. She had a slight accent as she spoke, but I was just glad she spoke English in the first place.

"What would you two boys like?" she asked, smiling kindly at us. I returned the smile out of courtesy before ordering a coffee and a bagel. Nico followed suit, getting a Hot Chocolate (because he insisted Coffee tasted like dirt) and a couple of muffins.

He turned to me after the waitress left, "I can't believe that" he said.

"What?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"You serious Percy? All you did was smile at that waitress and her face turned bright red." He said, glancing back to the counter occasionally.

I shrugged, honestly, I didn't notice girls doing stuff like that around me, and I was kind of glad I didn't now, it was easier to avoid them flirting with me if I was just totally oblivious to their attempts to do it.

Annabeth was the only one I was going to ever see that way anyways, so it was better for them not to get any ideas.

"Not really my biggest concern right now" I muttered, glancing out the window nervously, expecting a God to show up and blow me up any minute.

The waitress returned with our orders and we dug in. The bagel I got wasn't much, but the menu here didn't really offer Cheeseburgers or Pizza, or any other real meals, for that matter.

The coffee, ironically, helped to calm my jitters and nerves, as Nico and I had a hushed discussion, making sure no one else could hear.

"So, what do you think you're gonna do?" he asked, staring intently at me. I looked down at my coffee cup, not really sure myself. "No clue, to be honest. I'm not going to go to war, because honestly, I'm only mad at Zeus. Hera hates all heroes, Athena has always hated me, Ares is just bitter and Dionysus could care less what happens, they're just letting things roll through because they don't care if I'm dead, Zeus is the one trying to kill me just because he feels threatened, or whatever his excuses are"

Nico nodded in understanding, "That reminds me, When I prayed to my dad, I asked him who we could trust. I don't know if that means they won't be looking for you if Zeus sends them, because they are bound to serve him as the King, but at least we know they might have their own agendas about it."

I smiled a little bit and nodded, "What names did he give?"

"Hermes, Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite and Hestia" he replied, "Of course, your dad is a given, and my dad is obviously trying to help."

I bit my lip, "That leaves Ares, who hates me, Athena, who hates me, Zeus, who hates me, and then Hera, Dionysus and Demeter"

Nico nodded, "I think Hera could care less about you or any of the rest of us, we're pawns to her, besides, she'll support Zeus as his wife." That made sense, she wasn't exactly the nicest of Goddesses.

"Dionysus I don't really know about," I said, "He's helped me a lot before, but still hates heroes, but I think he just doesn't care what happens. I don't think I'd be going to him for aid even if your dad had said to trust him anyways, so that doesn't matter."

Nico smirked a little, "Yea, and Demeter is probably indifferent, I mean, the only things she's ever said about you is that you should eat more cereal, it's not like she has any real relations to you."

I decided to remain silent, sipping my coffee and looking out the window. There wasn't a whole lot I could do in my situation, keep in contact with camp, my friends, family. Avoid the Gods as much as possible. I could go around and look for demigods in Europe, help them out and train them if need be. Maybe send them to camp, if they had nowhere else to go. I wanted to still be helpful to camp and to demigods, we had each other's backs.

Besides, it was the right thing to do, and I had no better ideas, until we figured out a way to convince Zeus not to murder me.

Nico tapped my shoulder and I turned to face him, he nodded in the direction of the door and I turned slowly.

I let out a breath of relief when I saw who was standing outside the Café, looking in at the two of us intently. I gave her a smile and gestured for her to come in.

When she got to our booth and took a seat next to Nico, we both nodded to her, "Lady Hestia" we said in unision, before glaring at each other quickly in annoyance. Hestia smiled slightly. "Percy, Nico." She greeted warmly.

"I'm glad you came up with your plan, "She began slowly, smiling at me. Nico cut in, "What plan?" he asked, glancing at me.

"Percy has gotten the idea to just go around finding and helping demigods anonymously while in exile" Hestia told him, "It was his thoughts of doing so that invoked my presence and allowed me to find you. Such kind thoughts and decisions to help others warm the hearth, so naturally I can sense them."

I smiled, "There's nothing else that I really can do, I can't go back to either Camp, Zeus would find me there. I can travel though, either with Nico or Mrs. O'Leary or Blackjack, even on foot, I guess" shrugging, I etched out my plan, both to myself and to Nico and the Goddess in front of me, "I'd look for signs of demigods near schools and parks and stuff, if there are any monsters around, they'll find me and hopefully help me find people. I just have to make sure I don't get in trouble with mortals or caught by the Gods… or at least, the ones helping Zeus"

Hestia smiled at that, "Artemis is the most likely to find you, she's a born huntress and tracker, conveniently though, she's confident that you're still in the Americas, and has begun searching there with the Hunters. The other gods being sent out the search are looking there as well. The only real threat to you who has been sent out to search is Ares. The others are all rather fond of you"

"Ares is the only one searching for him that is sided with Zeus?" Nico asked in disbelief. Hestia nodded, "Naturally, he has Athena on Olympus trying to determine your next moves. Hera remains on Olympus of her own accord, and Dionysus, while willing to kill you if he found you, could really care less if you survived instead. Either way, he was sent back to Camp Half Blood"

I rubbed the back of my neck, "If you don't mind my asking Lady Hestia, why are you helping us so much?"

She just smiled warmly at us once again, releasing all the tension and nerves from my body. I noticed Nico visibly relax as well. "For the same reason that the majority of the Olympians have no wish to see you die. You're our greatest Hero, Percy. And your friend Nico here, is a powerful demigod in his own right, who has only ever fought to save Olympus, besides being the Pride of his father, Hades." A ghost of a smile flickered on Nico's face.

"The main differences between the others and I, is that I do not take orders from Zeus. None of his siblings do. Hera simply follows because she is his wife. Poseidon is only restrained by the fact that Zeus is keeping watch of him to try and get to you. Hades does as he wishes, as made apparent by the supplies he gave you." Nico and I grinned, looking down at our hoodies.

A thought came to my mind, "Um, Lady Hestia – " She gave me a small smile and put a hand on my shoulder, "I know what you will ask, Percy, I can grant your request and make sure aren't detected by the other Gods" I gave her a thankful smile, Nico looked slightly confused, but Hestia didn't seem to take notice, "Now, let's get going. I've already made sure your meal was paid for."

We flashed out of the café and appeared in a completely different environment. I smiled broadly, looking at Nico for a moment to see the recognition dawn on his face, as he realized what I'd asked Hestia to do.

I took a deep breath, inhaling the smell.

The smell of home.


	3. Popping In At Home

**Percy**

I heard movement coming from the kitchen, my mother came through the entryway to the living room. Her eyes rested on Hestia for a moment, "What the…"

Then she saw me.

"Percy!" she ran and smothered me in a hug, tears running down her face. "Hey mom" I replied, smiling and rubbing her back to reassure her I was really here.

"How are you, honey?" she asked, trying to contain her tears. I hugged her tighter, "I could be better, but no real complaints" I said, it was pretty important to be honest with her, and not just because Hestia was watching.

My mom pulled away, taking the time to crush Nico in a hug as well and ask how he was.

"I'm alright, Sally." He said, holding back a smile while he awkwardly hugged her back.

"So what's going on? You said that you could be better?" she asked me, as we moved to the kitchen table. Paul was at work, so it was just us four. Which was probably for the best, we hadn't introduced Hestia yet, but I was pretty sure my mom would take it better than Paul, with her being an immortal lady and all.

"Uhh, the King of the Gods may have ordered for my destruction when we got back to Olympus." I said, shrugging.

My mom's eyes widened, "Why? Poseidon wouldn't let that happen!" she exclaimed. Nico took some time out of staring out the windows to reply, "He decided Percy was too powerful, and was a potential threat to Olympus, and went for preventive measures, but I wasn't about to let him kill my uh… cousin" he hesitated with the word cousin, but I smiled at him. The guy seemed to have a lot going on in his head, but I was glad he was finally seeing me as family.

"Most of the Gods are against it, but they have to follow Zeus's orders. Dad can't do anything without starting a war of the gods, neither can Hades, and they're the only two with the power to challenge Zeus, who would do so, anyways" I explained, glancing at Hestia. I figured that if she wasn't such a pacifist, she'd be able to put on quite a show. Hestia nodded, "The only others with the power to stand against Zeus are Hera and myself. The others are almost all his children, and well, the Goddess of Love is not exactly one for fighting" she noted wryly. I took a moment to think about how I hadn't thought of Hestia as one for humor, but here she was.

My mom interjected, "If they're searching for you, why are you here? They'd obviously be expecting you to try and visit me Percy. Besides, Olympus is close by"

She began to glance around the apartment worriedly, but I shrugged it off, "We're safe for this visit, but I have to go soon, I'm not sure how long the protection will last"

She nodded, relaxing, "Who is protecting you?" I almost looked at my mom like she was crazy. I mean, there was a lady in the room who she didn't know and who had not long ago mentioned she had the power to take on Zeus, the Lord of the Skies.

Hestia however, saw no issue with it, kindly introducing herself. "That would be me, Mrs. Blofis. I am Hestia. You've raised quite the fine young man here." She said, nodding to me respectfully.

My mother's cheeks flushed, "Thank you Lady Hestia."

I noticed for the first time that Hestia had taken the form of a young woman, maybe in her thirties, at most. It was probably for the best, my mother would have been a lot more confused if an eight year old girl introduced herself as a goddess. She'd probably have offered the Goddess of the Hearth cookies and called her adorable…

"I'm afraid Percy and Nico have to be off, their friends have arrived at camp, and the Gods will be checking this place soon." Hestia remarked, smiling sadly at us.

I gave my mom another hug, telling her I'd be safe, and then Hestia flashed away, sending us back to the Café we'd been in before. I looked around and saw that no one had noticed us, and motioned my head towards the door, looking at Nico. He nodded and we quickly left the booth and headed into the streets.

"We need somewhere to sleep" I said, looking around for places that we could rest. Nico grinned, "Yea well, we just need to find a nice quiet space, my dad left one extra thing in the bag for us"

"What was it?" I asked in confusion, Nico had emptied the bag, and I hadn't seen anything that would help us here.

"Magic tent, like the ones the Hunters have, except, more geared towards us." I smiled a little bit at our luck. Definitely outdid the idea of sleeping in a tree or something.

"Are there any forests around this town?" I asked, Nico had obviously been here before, so I had to follow his lead. "Yea, we can go there, it isn't too far. Set up camp by the river."

-Linebreak-

The tent, without a doubt, was awesome. It was small on the outside, but had a main area and two small bedrooms on the inside, like a small apartment. If I had to guess, it was enchanted to add beds and rooms if more people joined us, which was useful.

I was sitting outside of it right now, watching the forest while poking the fire we'd started, Nico was in the tent right now, doing who knows what. He was a creepy cousin, I just prayed he wasn't summoning the dead in our new living space or something. It was called a living space for a reason.

Nico stepped out of the tent and sat down beside me, sighing.

"I sort of wish we could just be at camp." He said quietly. I nodded, turning to him. "The place grows on ya, huh?" he shoved me, "Shut up Percy, I finally got to a point where I could see Camp as a home, and now I'm banished from it." I couldn't help but feel pity for him, the kid had never really been accepted anywhere in his mind, and he finally saw somewhere as home, and it wasn't an option for him.

"I get the feeling though, Camp has been my home since I was twelve. Now I'm wanted dead by multiple Gods, and not just in the I-don't-like-you-kid kind of way."

Our conversation was interrupted as someone shouted from the direction that the town we'd been in was. Their voice was full of fear. We turned and saw a young boy, maybe thirteen or fourteen, sprinting through the forest, being chased by a hellhound.

"Oh boy" Nico muttered, standing up.

"I didn't think we'd find a Demigod just by sitting in a forest" I said, surprised.

We rushed forwards, Nico headed off the Hellhound and stopped it from chasing the boy, while I caught the kid and gripped his shoulders, "Don't worry kid, you're safe" I said, holding him in place. He stopped resisting and looked at me, "Safe?" he asked uncertainly, glancing behind me to see Nico jump away from the hellhound and then slice it's head off with his sword, disintegrating the monster.

"I don't suppose you know anything about the Greek gods?"

He nodded slowly, "I read a book about Greek mythology once. Then tonight, that thing attacked me while I was walking along the street."

Nico came over, "What made you decide to run into the empty forest?"

The boy shrugged, "I heard a voice in my head telling me I'd find help here." Nico and I exchanged glances, "I guess his parent likes us" I grumbled, wondering which God it would be.

Nico patted his back, "Come with us kid, we've got a lot to talk about."

We brought the boy to our fire by the tent, and he introduced himself as Marc Andros. He was thirteen and his mom had died when he was young, but his dad had left before he was born, plus the voice in his head had apparently been male, so that narrowed down his parentage to the male Gods.

He seemed to take in the news about being half god pretty easily, which was a benefit for Nico and I. Of course, it's hard to try and tell the guys with swords who saved you from a demon puppy that they're wrong about this stuff.

"So, do all half-bloods live like this?" Marc gestured to the forest and our tent. Nico snorted before covering his face with his hand. I just smiled at Marc. "Nah, there's two Camps in America for Demigods to live at. One for Greeks and one for Romans"

"Ah… so why are you guys," he gestured to the forest again.

Nico had calmed himself down by now and cut in, "We're sort of, in exile."

I frowned, "You make us sound like delinquents or something, Nico"

"You're the one with a Death Sentence." I shoved him over, "Not funny!"

Marc stared at me incredulously, "You have a Death Sentence?"

I nodded, "We just got back from fighting a war and saving the Gods and the world… again. But when we got to Olympus, Zeus decided I was too powerful and sentenced me to be executed as a potential threat to the Gods, but Nico saved me."

He seemed to calm down a little bit, moments ago he'd been looking at me like I was going to gut him.

"I think Uncle just had too much thunder up his ass because of how useless he was in the wars. Most of the gods are against killing you anyways, along with every demigod from both camps." Nico muttered.

I chuckled lightly at how he'd said Uncle like it was a horrible curse word.

"Uncle?" Marc asked, looking between us.

"Yea, Zeus is our Uncle" I clarified.

"Are you two brothers then?"

Nico shook his head, "Cousins, though gods don't really have DNA, genetically we're stangers. Otherwise it'd be creepy, since a lot of demigods date and stuff. Only real rule with it all, is that anyone with the same Godly parent is your sibling, everyone else is whatever you decide they are to you"

"I guess we should point out," I added, "His dad is Hades, mine is Poseidon."

"So, if all the demigods like you, why can't you go to the camps?" he asked. Nico took this one, "The Gods who want to catch him will be watching for him at the camps."

He stared down Marc for a moment before speaking up again, "Look kid, you seem to be having doubts, but you can trust us, Percy would never turn on the Gods, or any Demigods, that includes you. It's his fatal flaw."

The kid seemed to make a decision in his head, "Alright, I believe you" he said. As he said it, a symbol appeared above his head. I grinned, "Good to have you aboard, and it looks like we'll have to check our pockets when we're around you" Nico snickered as we looked at the symbol.

Marc looked at us in confusion before following our gaze and looking up, he saw the symbol as it faded, but didn't seem to recognize it. "Which?" he asked, looking back at us.

"Hermes, God of Travellers, Thieves, Messenger of the Gods and such" Nico said. "Also one of the gods who doesn't hate me, I should have figured he'd know where I am. God of Travellers and being the hospitable guy he is."

I used some water from the river to put out our campfire. "It's pretty late, let's go and test out the magic of this tent" I said, putting a brotherly arm around Marc and leading him into the tent. He had a goofy smile on his face, like he'd won the lottery. I guess for a guy who grew up in an orphanage, finding out you have a parent who's alive is better than the lottery.

Sure enough, the tent had added a room, but it was full of small bunk beds, instead of one double bed, like Nico's room and mine. I walked Marc to the bunks and told him to choose one, and we sat down on the bunk he chose together.

"So, what happens next, do you guys just go around doing stuff?" he asked.

"Well, we only went into exile today, and we had to decide what to do with our time until we can get Zeus not to kill me. I figured I'd make myself productive and go looking for Demigods to help and train. Nico can't really go anywhere, since he saved me they're after him too, so he decided to help."

He mulled it over with a slight smile, maybe at the idea that someone was taking care of him. "What's my dad like?" he asked, looking over at me hopefully. I grinned, because he reminded me of myself, when I'd ask my mom what my dad was like.

"Hermes, well, he's one of the more easygoing gods. Loves pranks and jokes just like his kids. He really cares about his kids though. I'd place him as one of the most caring Gods towards their children. Along with my dad and Apollo"

He smiled, "Do you think he cares about me?" I chuckled, "Well, he spoke to you in your head, sending you to me, probably knowing what I'd decided to do, and he claimed you the moment you decided to trust us. I'd say he does"

His smile widened and he hugged me. I was surprised at first, but then again, he was just a kid, who'd probably never had anyone truly looking after him. I got past my initial shock and hugged him back.

"Thank you" he whispered, and I grinned. "No problem kiddo. Now we should probably get to sleep, huh?" he nodded, pulling away, and I stood up, heading to the exit. "Night Marc" He grinned at me and pulled himself under the blanket, "Night Percy"

I left the room and saw Nico smirking at me, "What?" I asked.

"Nothing, I just hope I don't have to play big brother to the Demigods we find like that" I shrugged, "I've been playing big brother for you since I met you. It isn't really hard." He shrugged, "I find it annoying that I'm only two years older than that kid." He scoffed, I just waved it off, "You went through a lot of stuff that matured you faster. I'll play big brother, you just try not to scare them, alright?" I prodded, grinning at him.

"I'm going to bed" he said, walking into his room without another word. I grinned and headed to my own room, dropping onto my bed like a rock.

I wondered how the others were, and everyone at camp. Hestia had said that our friends had gotten to camp safely. I hoped that they were safe there, at the least.

Annabeth, without a doubt, would be worried out of her mind and would spend the entire night trying to find a way to get Zeus to lay off. There wasn't really anything I could do to stop her, as much as I wanted her to just take it easy and get some sleep.

I didn't have to worry too much though, she was safe, and that was what mattered.

**Annabeth**

I stopped trying to figure out a plan after the first few hours. After that I just spent time answering the questions of the campers and reassuring them that Percy and Nico were alive and well. At least just because I wasn't trying to think up a plan didn't mean there was no progress, the entire camp, and all the romans who were here, were trying to make sense of the situation.

I took the chance to head to the beach. If anyone could give some insight as to where Percy might be, it would probably be Poseidon. I pulled off my shoes before stepping into the surf, sighing. _Help me find Percy_, I thought, sending the silent prayer to Poseidon. I waited, hoping for some sort of reply, but none came.

"Great" I muttered, turning my gaze to my feet. I guess Poseidon was busy… or maybe he didn't know where Percy was.

As I turned to leave, something in the water caught my eye. I turned back to see what it was and gasped.

I scrambled into the surf and grabbed the paper, lifting it out of the water and making my way back to the sand. The paper was completely dry, an obvious hint that it was from Poseidon. I looked at the words on the paper and frowned, before realizing what it meant:

_Nico_

_Eight Days_

_Creek_

My eyes widened and I quickly folded the paper up, shoving it deep into my pocket. I had eight days to figure out what to prepare, what to expect, and decide if I should tell anyone else before I leave. If Nico was going to show up at camp, I was going back to Percy with him.


	4. I Make Some New Friends

**Percy**

"We'd let you choose what you want to train with, but we only have knives right now, so you know…" I trailed off, smiling apologetically at Marc.

He looked at the knife in his hand and sighed doubtfully. "I just don't feel like it's a very useful to defend myself, it's so small." I shrugged, patting his shoulder.

"I know some people who use knives very well for defending themselves, just have to be quick"

He nodded uncertainly and raised the knife in the defensive stance we'd shown him. I told Nico to teach him some blocks and test his reflexes. "Just, you know, try not to hit him." I had added, smirking a little bit.

I watched them train, calling out small bits of advice that I'd heard Annabeth mutter to herself while sparring with me sometimes. That was really paying off now, but it'd be nice to get some other weapons for people. If we found an Apollo kid it'd be annoying not to have a bow and arrow for them, those kids were already natural talents with bows, not giving them one to hone their skills would make this a poor place to train.

Besides, I'd be a lot more useful training people to use swords. So would Nico.

"So" Nico said, taking a break, "Think anyone will show up today like Marc did?"

I shrugged, "I dunno, just hope no one shows up whose parent wants to murder me, I'm not sure how that would go"

Nico chuckled, "Treat them how you treat everyone else and I'm pretty sure they'll refuse to hurt you"

"Anyways, I'm gonna walk through the town a bit, see what I find. You guys can hang out here and stuff, keep training, talk, just don't kill one another." I gave a pointed look at Nico before walking away, he scoffed.

"Your lack of faith hurts me"

-LineBreak-

The park was nice, no doubt. I was a little sad there were no dryads or satyrs around to talk to in it, maybe they were shy, maybe they were busy. I didn't know. I just took the moment to relax, eventually, a monster would show up, and I'd find out if any of the younger teens in the area were demigods. It was a really, dumb plan on paper. Oh, just use yourself as bait and hope someone else can see the monster for what it is so you can find them!

But hey, when you aren't afraid of any monster anymore, you can afford to be stupid a little more often than before. It's fun.

The only problem was, a lot of monsters didn't want to get close to me anymore, so I had to wait for the really dumb ones or the really cocky ones.

Lucky for me, a few of those decided to show up, just not in the way I had expected.

A few girls who seemed to be around my age came up to me and introduced themselves, smiling and trying to flirt with me. I turned them down politely, not realizing how stupid I was being, I of all people should have figured out what they really were, I had enough experience with them in the past.

"Well, I think you should give it a shot, never know when something unfortunate might happen to you" the one girl, I think her name was Kathi, said.

Come to think of it, the preppy names should have given it away.

"what?" I replied dumbly.

No doubt I would have died right there if our chat not been interrupted by another girl, who seemed to be around sixteen.

"Hey, dude, you should uh, come with me, right now, I need your help" she said, an urgent tone to her voice. I didn't know what her problem was, or why she was coming to me about it, but I wasn't going to be an ass to her.

"Umm, what do you need help with?" I asked, turning to her.

She glanced nervously between me and the girls talking to me, "Uhh, just, something, come and I'll explain."

I raised an eyebrow at her, "If you want to tell me something, you're going to have to be a lot more blunt. I'm not good with this coded talk."

She grumbled at me, "Blunt, huh?" and then punched one of the girls talking to me right in the nose. The girl reeled back, and then hissed, along with her two friends. The other girl glared at me, "They're going to kill you, is that blunt enough? Now let's go before they succeed!" I turned and followed her, since she didn't give me a chance to protest, and I didn't want to lose sight of her, she was obviously a demigod.

She slowed down as she got into a clearing in the park, letting out a sigh.

"You know what those are?" I asked, staring at her intently.

"Demon girls is my best bet." She muttered, before turning to me, "Why?" she asked, narrowing her eyes, "Do YOU know what they are?"

I nodded, "Empousai, Greek 'demon girls' to build on your assumption."

"So… all the things that try to kill me are Greek?" she asked quizzically. I smirked, "Basically, Greek mythology is real, the Gods and all the other stuff is real and alive now."

She seemed to be waiting for an explanation of what it had to do with her, so I went on, "I'm assuming you're a Demigod like me, as in, one of your parents is a God, but you could just be clear sighted"

"Well I never knew my dad, does that mean I'm a demigod?" she asked, and I just nodded. "Probably."

"Well uh, there's someone you'll want to meet then." She said, before whistling.

A young boy, maybe eleven, dropped out of one of the trees above us swiftly, looking between the girl and I, perplexed. "Who's he?" he asked the girl.

"He's like us, apparently we're Demigods."

"Yes" a voice growled, "Wonderful Demigods for us to kill. It will bring us fame for killing this one" the empousai came out of the bushes, pointing at me. "We've been watching the other two for days, poor things can't even defend themselves"

I uncapped Riptide and pointed it at the one talking, "Luckily, I can."

"Whoa!" the boy shouted, "He's got a sword!"

The girl looked a little frightened, but wasn't backing away, "Jake, maybe you should go back into the tree." She said, her voice like steel.

The kid decided not to question it and jumped back up, grabbing a branch and hauling himself into the tree swiftly.

I pulled the knife I'd brought with me out of my belt loop and handed it to her, "You'll probably need that" I said, turning to face the monsters again.

"Alright ladies, who's first?" I feigned excitement, opening my arms welcomingly.

The first empousai lunged at me stupidly and I sliced her in half before she could even try and stab me. I didn't think they'd actually fall for that one, empousai generally seemed a little brighter than that.

"We do not fear you, Jackson" the other two she-demons hissed and lunged at me together. I used Riptide to parry their attacks and back away as the girl with me circled around hesitantly. I swung at the empousai she was closer to, making the monster jump back within distance of the girl. I grinned at her and turned to the last one as the girl stabbed into the monsters back with her knife, turning it to dust.

"Not looking so good now, is it Kathi?" I taunted as me and the other girl advanced on the last empousai. She backed away slowly, growling. "I will avenge my sisters!" she howled, lunging at the girl. She dove to the side, landing on her stomach, and I stabbed the monster as she tried to cut my arm.

I walked over and offered a hand, helping the girl up. "Thanks" she muttered, looking around.

"Jake," she called, "You can come back down now!"

The boy dropped back out of the trees, landing on his hands and feet while grinning wildly.

"That was so cool!"

I grinned at him, but made sure not to encourage him on it, "Yea, but those things are dangerous. Not so cool, really"

"They didn't seem so dangerous to you!" he retorted, his eyes still wide in wonder. I smirked at his enthusiasm, "I've been doing this since I was twelve buddy, trust me, it's not all that great"

He shrugged, "Looked pretty cool." He mumbled, looking down at his shoes.

The girl stepped forward, now that I wasn't distracted by the Empousai I got a proper look at her. She was fairly tall, but shorter than me, with a strong build, short brown hair that looked like it was cut by safety scissors and dark hazel eyes.

"I'm Tessa" she said, nodding at me. "We've been on the run from these monsters for months, any chance you can help us out?"

I smirked, "You're in luck, I was sitting in the park waiting for a monster to come attack me specifically so I could find out who were Demigods"

She looked taken aback, "Why?"

"Cause I have a camp in a forest near this town and I'm looking for demigods to give shelter to, train, and generally help." I said, "I don't really have anything else to do, I'm in exile"

Tessa raised an eyebrow, but Jake was the one who voiced the question.

"Why are you in exile?" I just shrugged, putting away Riptide.

"Zeus thinks I'm a threat even though I've fought two wars for him, so he tried to execute me, a few other Gods support the idea of me dying, for their own reasons. The majority don't, some have even helped me out"

"My cousin Nico saved me, and we wound up here. If you want to come check out our camp, follow me." I said, grinning and waving them to follow me as I started to walk back towards the edge of the forest. They followed, with Jake getting a piggy back ride from Tessa. They definitely weren't related, since Jake had spikey blonde hair and light brown eyes, but Tessa obviously saw him as her little brother and was protective and caring of him.

"So uh, who's your parent?" Tessa asked, walking alongside me as we neared the camp. "Poseidon" I said, grinning, "And Nico's dad is Hades, so basically Zeus wants to kill his only two nephews"

"Harsh" she muttered, looking at me sympathetically.

"Eh, its fine, he's paranoid and stubborn, is all. It's better than Ares, he's just angry with me cause I beat him in a duel when I was younger."

She smirked, "He's the god of war, isn't he? I'd be annoyed too if a kid beat me at my domain"

"I think the worst one is Athena though" I muttered, looking down.

"Why's that?"

"Well, she wants me dead just because she doesn't like me or my dad, from her rivalry with Poseidon over Athens, and I'm dating one of her daughters, probably her favourite daughter."

Tessa laughed a little, "That seems a little extreme, don't you think?" I just smiled, "Well, next time you see her, be sure to tell her that and see what happens to you."

She looked over at me warily, "I think I'll pass."

"Well, here's camp" I said, pointing to the tent and fire in the small clearing near the river.

"It's sort of underwhelming" Tessa muttered, nudging Jake to wake him up, "How many others are there?"

"Two others, Nico and a Son of Hermes who showed up being chased by a monster yesterday."

She whistled, "Not much, explains the small tent."

I chuckled, "We only got here yesterday, cut us some slack, besides, the Tent is enchanted, it's like the one in the Harry Potter movies, except way better."

Nico came out of the tent and saw us, "Oh, hey Percy. Find someone, I see?" he said, almost in a mocking tone as he glanced at me with an amused expression.

"Yea, Tessa, and Jake." I said, pointing to them.

"How old are you guys?" Nico asked, looking at Jake.

"I'm fifteen, Jake is eleven" Jake had woken up some and mumbled an addition, "And three quarters, Tess"

"You seem tired, Jake" I said as Tessa put him down, he nodded. "If you go in the tent there's a room with a bunch of bunks in there if you want to go sleep, maybe you can say hi to Marc"

He just smiled sleepily and headed towards the tent after hugging Tessa and saying goodnight to her. Nico sat down by the fire and I followed suit. Tessa looked between the tent and us indecisively.

"He'll be safe. I'm sure you have a few questions for us, you can check on him after and stuff."

"Just two, really" she said, sitting down.

"Yeah?"

"How can I trust you, and is there any real safe places for Demigods? No offense to your setup here."

Nico snorted, "Don't worry, Percy is a horrible liar, so you should be fine with the trust since you'll know if he's being dishonest." He warmed his hands a little over the flames, "Besides, He's too nice to do anything but help you." I glared at him momentarily before smiling sheepishly and looking down at the fire. "As for your second question" I murmured, "There's a couple of Camps in America for Demigods, one for Greeks and one for Romans. They're both safe."

She nodded, "Guess we can't really get there, then, if they're in America" she muttered.

Nico snickered, shaking his head. "I can get you to either one if you wanted, It's pretty easy."

Tessa raised an eyebrow at him and I cut in, "He's got a teleporting type of power with shadows."

She mouthed a small 'oh' and looked down slightly, "I'm gonna go check on Jake, and sleep, I guess. Thanks for taking us in" She went into the tent, leaving just Nico and I.

"I can't believe your stupid bait plan worked." Nico muttered, grinning at me.

"Stupidity never fails to attract monsters, it's familiar to them." I countered, smirking.

"And here I thought they were familiar with you because you kill them a lot" he got up, still grinning, and headed to the tent. "Might as well call it a night, I'm pretty sure the tent is protected against monsters, by the way. Thought you might want to know." He pulled open the tent flap and went in. I put out the fire and followed. Now there were three demigods with them, they definitely needed to get more weapons, they only had four knives, and Marc had one, with Tessa and Jake they'd only have one left.

I'd have to talk Nico into sneaking to camp to get some stuff, or…

I glanced at the entry to the bunk room with the three demigods. Maybe, one of them would want to go to camp at some point soon, and could get the campers to gather some supplies for Nico so he didn't have to risk going into camp borders. If not to stay, they could at least ask one of them to consider being an envoy.

After all, Marc's dad was the messenger of the gods, maybe he'd be in the spirit of it. I smirked at the thought and headed to my room.


	5. Recruiting an Errand Boy

**Percy**

The next few days went by pretty quickly. Nico and I helped Tessa, Jake and Marc train and talked to them more about the World of Gods and Demigods. We didn't find or have any more demigods show up, which was probably for the best since we only had one weapon left to give out and we weren't exactly used to teaching, so progress was somewhat slow with the young boys, Marc and Jake.

Tessa however, seemed to be a natural fighter, picking up quickly on things. It gave me a few ideas on who her godly parent might be, but that just worried me, since the one in my mind wasn't exactly my best friend.

It had been just over a week since we'd escaped the throne room, and I waved Nico over to me, letting the others spar together, they were getting along pretty well, joking around together. Tessa helped with taking care of Marc along with Jake, and even Nico was adored by the two young boys. Which was a big surprise, but hey, when you're a demigod with a cool sword and stuff, little kids tend to like you.

"I think we need to get some extra weapons for training" I said when he got close enough to me. He nodded hesitantly, "Yea, but the only places we'd find any, realistically, are the camps" he replied, "And I don't think we can just waltz in asking for weapons."

"I know, they'd happily lend us the weapons, but you know, just in time for Zeus to show up and smite us" I said, frowning, "But I had an idea."

Nico's eyebrows raised, he looked intrigued, "What's the idea?"

"We see if one of our trainees wants to help us out" I said, glancing over at the three kids who had joined our campsite.

Nico turned to them anxiously, "Wouldn't it put them in danger?" he asked, turning back to me.

I shrugged, "Two of them are unclaimed, though I wouldn't even be asking Jake, he's too young" Nico nodded in agreement, "But Tessa might be willing to do it, and Marc's dad is Hermes, the Messenger of the Gods, he might just have it in his nature to want to take our request to the campers."

Nico smirked at me doubtfully, "I don't think it works that way, Percy"

"Shut up, I can dream"

He just laughed and turned to look back at the others. "You can ask them, I guess you're right that they won't be in danger, that'll be my job, sitting somewhere waiting for him to get back"

I slapped him on the back, grinning, "Exactly, way to think positive, buddy"

I walked over to the others with him, as they were sitting in a circle in the grass.

We sat down with them and I figured I'd just bring things up now. "So uh, this is sort of short notice, but I was wondering if either of you – " I pointed between Marc and Tessa, " – Would be willing to run an errand for us."

The two demigods looked at each other and then back at me, warily. "What kind of errand?" Tessa asked.

"Well, you've probably noticed that we only have four knives with us, three of which are with you guys now, and we need weapons to be able to train demigods, besides, we don't want to just teach everyone to use a knife, they could be skilled with other weapons that we don't have right now"

I stopped and gathered my words, "So we're hoping that one of you would be okay with going to Camp Half Blood to ask them to send us some weapons for training and defensive purposes. You'd get to see the camp and meet some of the campers, and as long as you say you're with Nico and I and show them this note," I held up a note I'd written earlier asking for some weapons and supplies, and assuring everyone I was fine, "They'll get it all for you to bring back, and probably treat you like a gift from the heavens"

I saw their eyes cloud as they thought over the proposition, before Marc spoke up. "I'll do it" he said, shrugging. "I want to see camp, even though I want to keep training with you guys, and besides, my dad is the messenger god, right? It's practically my obligation to run the errand for you." I turned to Nico with a smug grin, remembering our earlier conversation, he just rolled his eyes. "Alright" Nico said, "I'll shadow travel you to the creek in the forest at camp, there's monsters there so it'll be harder for Zeus to sense me, and you can go into camp and get the weapons from them, I'll tell you directions once we get there, it'll be easier."

Marc nodded eagerly, "When do we go?" he asked.

Nico looked at me for an answer and I shrugged, "Whenever you're ready, the more daylight you have to get everything sorted with the Campers there, the better"

He nodded and stood up, "Come on then kiddo, we'll go right now" Marc rolled his eyes and jumped up, "Don't call me kiddo, you're not that much older than I am"

Nico shook his head at me in disbelief at the response and then reached out his hand to Marc, who grabbed on to his arm, they disappeared into the shadows together.

**Nico**

We showed up right in the middle of the creek, splashing up the water and soaking my shoes.

I stepped out of the shallow water, pulling Marc with me, and glared down at my wet sneakers, "Damnit" I muttered.

Marc looked around, adjusting to the new scene. What adjustment needed to be made, I don't know. We went from a forest, to another forest.

"Alright Marc," I began, turning to him. He turned to listen intently, since he probably figured it was a serious errand he was running for us.

I pointed in the direction of camp, "You go that way, you'll see buildings and stuff, go until you find someone, and ask them to take you to the Big House to see Chiron. He'll be the dude with the beard who is either in a wheelchair, or is a Centaur, you'll notice him standing out either way" his mouth opened in awe of the idea of a centaur. "Give him the note and answer his questions, but don't tell him where I am or anything about where Percy is, he probably won't ask, but don't. Same for if any campers ask." He nodded slowly in understanding, so I kept going, "After that, just do what seems right until you've got the weapons and supplies they give you, and come back here, make sure no one follows you, cause if a bunch of them come here, It might tip off a god or raise suspicion, and they'll all want to come with us."

Marc grinned, "Got it, so, is that all?" I nodded, "You'll do fine kid, go nuts" I watched as he turned on his heel and ran in the direction I'd told him, heading for camp.

"Who was that?" a voice rang out, setting me into alert mode, I grabbed my sword and pointed it in the direction of the voice, but let it drop and frowned when I saw who it was.

She smirked, "Hey Di Angelo" she said, hopping off the rock she'd been standing on and walking towards me calmly. Though it was plainly seen she was bursting with excitement and trying to keep it under wraps.

"What brought you here, Annabeth?" I asked, trying to be casual. But hey, it wasn't every day someone like Annabeth walked through the woods casually.

"Oh you know, Poseidon tipped me off." She said, stepping into the creek, a slight smile on her face.

"I suppose you want to come with us?" I asked, sighing.

She just grinned at me, "You know you can't say no, Nico, if there's one person Percy would want you to bring, it'd be me."

I shrugged, "I know that, but won't your mom be able to tell where you are? I know that other gods have trouble finding a Demigod who is avoiding them, but she's your parent."

She sighed, "Yea, well, when you cut off all ties you had with your parent because of their ignorance, it gets much easier to avoid them like the plague. Besides, Poseidon likes me" she added, smirking.

"Seriously though, who was the kid?" she asked. I smirked, "Percy decided to use all his newfound free time to find and help demigods. Marc showed up that night being chased by a hellhound, his dad lead him to us"

"Who's his dad?" She asked thoughtfully.

"Hermes. Which was partially why he decided to run the errand for us, said it was almost like his obligation because his dad is the messenger god." I scoffed, thinking of Percy's smug grin.

"So what now, just wait for the kid to get back?" she asked, glancing in the direction of camp.

I nodded, "I think we have some questions for each other, so it'll probably go by quick"

She smiled at me, "Very true, so, what's the past week or so been like for you, Nico?"

**Marc**

The camp was way cooler than I'd been expecting. I gasped in awe at what I saw as I got out of the forest. Taking in all the buildings slowly, but I didn't have time to sightsee, so I just took off into a jog further into camp, looking for someone. It only made sense that the first person I ran into was my brother.

"Who are you?" I turned to the sound of the voice to see an average height guy with curly brown hair, "Uhh, I'm Marc" I said, "Can you show me how to get to the Big House?"

He looked at me suspiciously, "Uhh, how do you not know where it is if you're here?"

"I uh, I'm not a camper here, I just have a message for Chiron to deliver."

"Message to deliver, huh?" the boy mused, "Alright kid, I'll bite. Connor Stoll, Son of Hermes." He said, stretching out a hand.

I grinned at him with newfound interest and shook it, "Marc Andros, Son of Hermes" Connor grinned, "Well then bro, lets deliver this message." He put an arm around my shoulders and led me through the camp to a large farmhouse.

"Wait here kiddo, I'll get Chiron." He said, leaving me on the steps of the porch and going in.

About a minute later, Connor came back out, along with a man in a wheelchair, I remembered what Nico had said and realized this was Chiron.

"I hear you have something for me, young man?" He said, with a deep voice that sounded old and wise.

"Uh, yea" I said, fumbling in my pocket and grabbing the note, handing it to him.

Chiron opened it and looked down, looking back up at me with his eyes slightly widened, a surprised expression on his face, and then looked back down quickly, reading the note. I guessed that he recognized the handwriting.

"Connor," He began, not looking up from the note, "Go get all the other Councillors and get them together." He said quietly, Connor nodded and jumped down the steps of the Porch before Chiron called him again.

"Send them all to the Ampitheatre, I don't trust the Big House with this meeting, not with Mr. D around"

Connor nodded again and sprinted off, while Chiron sighed, "How is Percy?" he asked, looking at me.

"He seems fine to me, but I mean, obviously you all know him better."

"That's probably true" He murmured, "Come, child, we must go talk to the Councillors about your message, they'll have some questions.

I nodded, and then watched in surprise as he lifted out of the chair, growing until he was towering over me, with the body of a horse. "Oh right" I said, my voice choked, "I forgot about that part"

Chiron smiled kindly at me and began to trot off. "Come along, young one. You're about to meet some of Percy's friends"

The Amphitheatre was really impressive. It was like something straight out of ancient Greece… probably because it WAS something straight out of ancient Greece. It was just a breathtaking sight, really.

"Councillors" Chiron greeted, nodding at the group of teenagers who'd gathered. "Thank you for coming on such short notice, I believe what you're about to hear will make it worth being pulled out of whatever you all had been doing"

"What exactly is it, Chiron?" One girl, with eyes that kept changing colours asked.

"Well, our new friend here brought us a message from Percy" he replied.

All eyes turned to me.

"Percy sent you here?" the boy with blonde hair and blue eyes asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

I looked around nervously, "Uhh, yea, he needed to get a message to camp, and I volunteered, cause I wanted to see camp, and figured it was my thing to do, since Hermes is the Messenger of the Gods"

"Also the god of thieves" one girl muttered, while Connor and the boy who was definitely his brother high fived beside me. I guess the other guy was my brother too. They both seemed pretty cool, and I felt a little sad I wouldn't be able to get to know them better.

"What was the message, Chiron" another blonde boy asked, but he had grey eyes, like, intense grey.

"Well, Malc – " Chiron paused and narrowed his eyes, "Malcom, where is Annabeth?" Everyone's eyes turned to Malcom, which was a relief, it'd been weird having everyone stare at me.

He shifted nervously, "Uhhh, she left the cabin early this morning and left me in charge, said she had something important to do."

Chiron glanced at me thoughtfully and sighed. "I believe Annabeth might've known about this message being delivered beforehand" he said.

"How would she manage that?" Connor asked.

His brother laughed, "She's Annabeth, she always figures it out!" the others chuckled in agreement.

"So where did she go then, she's not here for the message" the girl with the changing eyes asked.

"Think about it Piper," Malcom began, "The kid had to get here somehow" he said, pointing at me.

Once again, all eyes were in my direction. "Uhh, Nico brought me here."

"That explains it." Piper said, sighing, she didn't seem too annoyed though, like she was expecting it to happen.

"Wait," I interjected, "Why is Annabeth going to Nico?"

"To get to Percy" Chiron stated, a faint smile on his face.

"Well uh, Percy and Nico both said for me to not let anyone follow me back to him, because they didn't want to bring anyone back." I stated, trying to sound firm.

The boy beside Piper, with the blue eyes, grinned. "I think Nico will let her though, Percy's got a soft spot for Annabeth"

Connor's brother leaned over to Connor and whispered, "More like Percy's got a hard spot for Annabeth, huh? Huh?" the two snickered quietly and I couldn't stop myself from joining in. The two paused and looked at me, with something akin to pride in their eyes, and then continued to laugh silently with me. The others looked at us weird, except for the girl beside us who smacked Connor's brother on the shoulder, "Travis! Don't be so gross!"

Travis just grinned, "Hey, Percy's thoughts, not mine" he said, wiggling his eyebrows at her. She huffed and glared at him and I smiled at my newfound brothers.

Chiron cleared his throat, "Anyways, Percy has asked if he could borrow some weapons and supplies from us. It seems he and Nico are using their free time to find and help demigods." The others nodded, obviously seeing that as a very Percy thing to do.

"Sure" A big guy said, rubbing his rough hands together and grinning, "We've got a bunch of swords in the forges we can send to him." Another boy with golden hair grinned, "We can send him some bows too, in case he finds some Apollo kids, just have to pray Percy doesn't try to use them himself"

Some of the people laughed, grinning.

My mouth opened and I blurted something out quietly, "Well, if you'd have said no, I'd probably just steal the supplies for Percy anyways."

Apparently I'd said it louder than I thought, because everyone heard. A few of the councillors laughed, most just looked at me in surprise. Chiron raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. I tried to backtrack, "What? They saved my life and took me in, I owe them." I murmured.

Travis and Connor were laughing the loudest, and turned to me with prideful expressions, "you, are definitely our brother" they said together, grinning and high fiving me. I grinned back, and I could definitely see myself enjoying a life at this camp one day.

-LineBreak-

I'd managed to escape the bombardment of questions that all the random campers had sent my way when word escaped that I was sent by Percy. Travis and Connor helped me out, distracting the mob so I could escape into the forest with the big duffel bag of supplies I'd been given.

I finally found Nico, which was good, since the sun was setting, but then saw he wasn't alone. I saw he was with a girl who had long blonde hair, and when they heard me coming and turned to face me, I saw her eyes were grey, just like Malcom's.

"Oh, right, you must be Annabeth" I said, remembering the meeting.

She raised an eyebrow, "You know me?"

"Uh, yea, all the Councillors talked about you when they noticed you weren't there, and figured you'd known about the visit beforehand and went to find Nico." I paused, pointing at said boy, "They were right"

She accepted my explanation, "Well, nice to meet you Marc, Nico told me a bit about you, but uh, I'd like to leave, if that's alright."

I smirked, walking over and grabbing on to Nico's arm like she had done. "Alright then"

We were engulfed by the darkness as the sun set over the forest.


	6. I Scare a Stalker

**Percy**

A while after Nico and Marc had left for Camp, I checked with Tessa to see if she'd be alright if I went to one of the other towns nearby. It was a few miles, but that was fine. I wanted to check it out, we'd only visited the closest town so far.

It was eight or nine now, and I was just walking through the streets of the town, listening to the sounds of the town at night. It was a fairly big place, and I saw a park up ahead and smiled. It looked empty, and would be a nice place to take a break from walking.

I got to the park, but noticed a small figure walking down the sidewalk beside the park hurriedly. I took a closer look and saw it was a little girl, with a frightened look on her face. I walked over into her path as she closer in and stopped her carefully, kneeling down to be at eye level with the girl.

"You alright?" I asked, naturally concerned for the little kid. She couldn't have been older than eight, if that.

Her eyes widened at me and she tried to take a step back, in a panic. I rested my hands firmly on her shoulders, but rubbed them gently to comfort her. "It's okay, just here to help." I told her, smiling.

She glanced over her shoulder and I noticed a very tall, burly figure a little ways away from us. I got a good view of the stranger and my heart quickened a little nervously.

"Is that guy giving you trouble?" I whispered. She nodded slowly, biting her lip.

"Hey kid, do you see anything weird about that guy, like his face?"

"You wouldn't believe me." She murmured, in a fearful little voice.

I smirked, "One eye?" I queried, recognizing the signs of her heritage. Her eyes widened at me, "You see that?" she gasped, I nodded at her. "Don't worry kiddo, doesn't mean you're nuts, just means you're like me." I said, smiling. "You live near here? I'll walk you home."

She looked back over her shoulder and I chuckled, pulling out Riptide in pen form and twirling it in plain view of the Cyclops following her, its eye widened in recognition and I gave it my best death stare.

"Oh, he'll leave you alone now, he's scared of us." I whispered to her, grinning.

I held out my hand and she grabbed it for reassurance. "Lead the way kiddo, and uh, what's your name?"

She looked up at me, a small smile playing on her lips, "Millie" she said, walking off and pulling me along with her.

"Alright Millie, I'm Percy."

She looked back, "Why do all the weird things follow me?" she asked, I shrugged, "You ever hear anything about the Greek Gods?" Millie shook her head, "Well, they were a bunch of immortal people from Greece a long time ago, and they're still around today, and sometimes they have kids." I said, going for the simple version, considering Millie was still somewhere in her early elementary years.

"The weird things are monsters that try to hurt those kids, and since you can see them and they follow you, you're a kid of one of those Gods, just like me."

Her eyes got wide, "You mean my mommy is a God?"

I shrugged, "Have you ever met your mom?" She shook her head, "Daddy said she had to leave."

I smiled at her, "Well then yea, your mommy is a Goddess, I dunno which, but we'll find out eventually. Alright?"

She nodded enthusiastically, tugging me forward faster, "We're almost home!"

Millie pulled us along to the doorway of one of the houses in the street and pulled out a key, she stuck it in the lock and opened the door slowly, going in. I followed slowly, 'cause I had to talk to her dad.

"Daddy! I'm home!" A fairly young man walked into the entryway and I noticed a few similarities between him and his daughter, the light brown hair, though his was cut short, while Millie's was long and wavy. He had dark green eyes though, not the golden brown that his daughter had.

"Why were you out so late Millie?" he asked, his voice full of worry, he noticed me and raised an eyebrow, "Who are you?"

Millie giggled, "This is Percy! he walked me home."

Her dad looked at me strangely, expecting an explanation.

"I was uh, walking around, and saw some weird guy following your daughter, so I offered to walk her home because he was freaking her out." I said, looking at Millie as she nodded to her dad to say it was true.

"Well, erm, thank you Percy." He said hesitantly.

"Um, sir," I chipped in, "Would it be alright if I talked to you for a minute… about the man who was following her?"

He paused, before sighing, "Sure." Millie's father turned to her, "Why don't you go to your room while I talk to Percy?" he suggested, and she nodded and rushed up the stairs.

He turned back to me, waiting expectantly.

"There was something really strange about the guy following her, has she had any, weird things happen to her in the past?"

He sighed in resignation, "You're a demigod, aren't you?"

I was taken aback by his accusation, but he didn't seem angry, just more like he knew it was bound to happen. I nodded in response. "A Cyclops was stalking her, I scared it off and offered to walk her home, because I knew she was a Demigod and figured I'd talk to you in case you didn't know"

He smiled sadly, "I've known since she was born, her mother never told me who she really was though"

The man in front of me looked really conflicted for a long moment of silence, where neither of us knew what exactly to say.

"I can go, if yo – " He cut me off.

"Can you take care of her?" he blurted out, "Protect her?" His eyes were full of sadness and worry.

"Uhh, I could. I have a small camp a few miles from here with some other Demigods, we could keep her safe, eventually take her to a place that's protected for Demigods to live."

He nodded, it looked like just thinking of sending Millie with me was painful, but he kept going, "I don't want to lose her, but I'm not going to keep her with me if it puts her in danger." I nodded in understanding. I remembered how hard it had been for my mom, how long she'd held on to me.

"Don't worry sir, I know it's tough. If you want, I can wait here while you go explain things to her, if you're sure about this."

He smiled in thanks and headed up the stairs. This would be an interesting addition to the camp…

It'll probably be hard for her to adjust and get used to it at first, so I knew I'd have to keep a close eye on her to make sure she was safe.

About ten minutes later he came back down, Millie following him. She had a backpack with her and looked teary eyed, but better than you'd expect of a little kid being sent away with a random guy by their dad.

He gave me a small forced smile, handing me some swiss money. "Figure you and your friends could use it. I packed some food and medicine in her backpack too, just in case." I smiled back at him thankfully, "Thank you, it means a lot."

He nodded, looking over at his daughter for a moment, "If you or anyone else with you is ever around here and needs somewhere to stay, my door is open." He said, putting out his hand to shake, "My name is Theo Fullam, by the way. Her full name is Melissa, she just prefers Millie for some reason." He smiled when he talked about his little daughter.

I put my hand on his shoulder instinctively, "We'll take care of her, and hopefully we'll be able to bring her to visit once and a while. Don't worry." It was the best assurance I could really offer him.

Theo backed up from him slowly, nodding to Millie. She came up to me and I knelt down, smiling.

"You're going to take care of me?" she asked, with wide eyes. I nodded, putting out my hand. "Here, I'll carry the bag for you."

She took off the small pack and handed it over, and I slung it over my shoulder, then stood up, holding my open hand out for her to take. "Come on Millie, we have a little ways to go, and its late." She nodded wordlessly, then turned hesitantly before running back to hug her dad. I smiled sadly at the display, but said nothing.

She let go reluctantly and came back over to me, taking my hand.

I opened the front door and walked out, heading towards the edge of the town to reach the forests.

Millie's dad watched us go until we were out of sight.

Once we reached the forest though, I heard a loud yawn and looked down, seeing Millie putting a hand over her mouth. I smiled softly and stopped. She didn't notice and kept going until my hand tugged her back, and she looked up at me quizzically.

"Tired?" I asked, and she nodded, mumbling a quiet 'yes'.

I reached down and picked her up to carry her, and she didn't try and refuse it, instead just resting her small head on my shoulder and closing her eyes.

I continued walking through the forest, rubbing the little girl's back comfortingly almost as an instinct.

She had definitely fallen asleep right away, so the rest of the walk back to camp was quiet. It was past midnight now, but so far, no monsters, and we were only a few minutes away from where the camp was set up. I could even see the faint glow from the fire.

Nico spotted me, and he was outside at the fire with Tessa. They both got up as I closed in on the camp, small smiles on their faces when they noticed the little kid in my arms. I smiled at the both of them when I was close, "Meet Millie Fullam, our newest addition." I said, adjusting the girl a little bit.

Tessa looked like she was already smitten with the six year old sleeping on my shoulder, "Can't wait to meet her officially." She said, grinning.

Nico, on the other hand, was smirking like he knew something I didn't. I ignored the look on his face, "I'm gonna go put her in bed, are Marc and Jake asleep?" I asked.

Tessa laughed, "We sent them to bed hours ago, but they're probably awake, talking about video games and training. They're kids, after all."

I grinned, "Well, sometimes it's okay to be a kid." I carried a pointed glance at Nico, who smiled a little, remembering that conversation.

I turned from them and took Millie into the bunk room, I nodded to Marc and Jake, who, as predicted, were lying on one of the bunks talking animatedly about whatever came to mind. ADHD did that to you.

When they saw I had someone sleeping in my arms, they hushed to whispers, which I was thankful of, I gently placed Millie on one of the bunks and put the covers over her, then turned to the boys. "Try to keep it down?" I pleaded, they both nodded at me and went back to their conversation.

I turned and left the room, pausing between the entrances to the bunk room and my room, looking over to the exit of the tent. Wondering if I should go talk to Nico and Tessa before going to bed or not.

Admittedly, I was more than a little off guard when someone slammed into me from the direction of my room, wrapping their arms around me in a tight embrace. I tensed up reflexively for a moment, but my eyes registered the blonde curls the person had and I relaxed, wrapping my own arms around her and lifting her off the ground in the hug.

"Annabeth" I managed.

"I missed you, Seaweed Brain." She whispered into my ear.

My smile broadened as I leaned into the embrace further. Even with everything that was going on with Gods being out to get me and having to be in hiding, Annabeth being here made it perfectly okay. I honestly didn't care if Zeus was looking for me so he could blast me. I had everything I needed.

"You're probably tired," she guessed as we pulled back slightly, I let out a yawn at that moment to confirm her thought and smiled sheepishly. Annabeth just took my hand and pulled me into my room, smiling softly at me.


	7. Wanted and Unwanted Guests

**Percy**

I awoke to the sound of muffled sobs, and naturally, my first instinct was to think that I was going to kill whoever was making noise to wake me up.

Then my brain turned on and remembered sobbing and waking me up weren't punishable crimes.

Then my brain decided to actually work, and register for the first time that the sobs meant someone was crying, and I could count on one finger how many people in this tent would be making the undeniable sounds of a little girl balling her eyes out. That would be the little girl.

Maybe on an off day it would be Marc, we may never know, but I was going to go with the little girl theory.

So, I slowly slid out of the bed, releasing my firm hold on Annabeth's sleeping figure. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face over the fact that she was here with us, with me, now.

My mind reminded me why I was out of bed in the first place, and I removed my gaze from my girlfriend and quietly made my way out of the room. I went into the bunks room slowly, noticing that the other three occupants of the room were definitely not awake. Marc just seemed to be a deep sleeper, but it was plausible that Tessa and Jake had gotten used to sleeping through noise while they were on the run together. I knew that if I was really tired enough I'd probably sleep through a bombing raid. I'd only gotten more sensitive to sounds recently, after escaping Tartarus. It was a vital part of comforting Annabeth when she would have nightmares, and vice versa for when I'd have them.

On the bright side, my mind had way too much other stuff to mull over for it to go back to nightmares about that place right now. So in a way, I had Zeus to thank for getting my sleeping schedule back on track.

Anyways, I found Millie on her bed, curled up and crying, trying to silence herself.

I sat down on the bed and leaned over her, pushing all her hair off her face. She sat up, turned, and buried herself against me in a hug.

She sniffled, "Why did my dad get rid of me?"

"Hey," I said, rubbing her back soothingly, "He did it so you'd be safe. He isn't getting rid of you, he's protecting you."

I picked her up slowly out of her bunk, "Come on kiddo, we'll get some snacks and have a little talk"

She'd stopped crying for the moment, so I took it she was up for the idea.

I set her down on one of the couches in the main room of the tent and wrapped a blanket around her before walking over to the small kitchen area. It wasn't really much, but hey, a working fridge and stove in a tent? I was not going to get picky at any point with those perks.

I opened one of the pantries absently and smirked. We hadn't really used the kitchen extensively, but it made foods appear for you, and apparently it had good taste, because I was looking right at a big bag full of Oreo cookies. I grabbed the bag and set it on the counter and then poured two glasses of milk.

I walked back over and set the glasses plus the bag on the coffee table in front of the couch, grinning.

The sight of the Oreos seemed to lift Millie's spirits a little bit. Her eyes widened and she almost smiled, "Can I have some?" she asked, looking up at me pleadingly.

I smirked, "Why do you think I brought them here?" I asked, sliding the bag along the table so she could reach it easier. She shifted to the edge of the couch and opened the bag, pulling out an Oreo triumphantly and taking a bite. I chuckled quietly and grabbed one for myself.

"So, you miss your dad, huh?" I asked quietly, letting Millie lean against me. She was such a nice little kid, it was hard to watch her being so sad because of what her dad had to do.

"Yeah" She mumbled, chewing on her Oreo quietly. "Why did he send me away?" she asked, looking up at me curiously.

I smiled, "He wanted you to be safe, out in the world, monsters will come after you, like that one eyed man." I said, and her eyes widened slightly in fear. "He decided you'd be safer with us, because we can defend you from the monsters and he can't. Trust me Millie, sending you with me is probably the hardest thing your dad has ever done, but he did it for you"

Millie stayed silent, leaning further into my side and grabbing another Oreo, dipping it in her milk.

"Don't worry though, all of us here, we'll take care of you." I stated, grinning down at her.

She smiled hesitantly, "You'll take care of me?" I leaned down and kissed her forehead, "Sure! I always wanted a little sister, anyways."

Millie smiled brightly and wrapped her arms around my waist as best as she could.

I heard someone clear their throat and turned my head, seeing Annabeth standing at the entry to our room, her arms crossed, but a sweet smile on her face. "Adding to your extensive family, I see, Seaweed Brain." She said, walking over and jumping over the back of the couch, landing herself in the spot beside me with ease.

"Everyone deserves to have someone looking out for them" I said in reply, running a hand through Millie's hair.

Millie, in all her cuteness, narrowed her eyes at Annabeth sleepily, "Are you my mommy?" she asked, yawning.

Annabeth's eyes widened in surprise and I snorted, "No Millie," I began, "I told you that your mommy is a Goddess, Annabeth is a Demigod like us."

Millie shook her head in denial, "She looks like how I think a Goddess would look though." She murmured, closing her eyes.

Annabeth stared at me, "Did she just say I look like a Goddess?" she asked.

I smirked and kissed Annabeth's forehead, before whispering to her "She's right." She smiled, cheeks turning red. "Flattery will get you nowhere Percy."

Wrapping my arm around her waist, I grinned, "I consider it to be honesty rather than flattery."

Millie took the opportunity to speak up, "Can I go to bed now, you guys are being weird" she mumbled, looking up at us.

We both cracked up, trying to quiet our laughter so we wouldn't wake the others. The comment was just too funny coming from a six year old. Besides, weird was a pretty accurate description of Annabeth and I, it was relieving to hear it used again.

"Alright Millie, let's get you to bed." I said, lifting her off the couch and to her feet. "Tomorrow you get to meet the others!"

She nodded and looked from the entrance to the bunks to the bag of Oreos, in a debate with herself. Annabeth grinned at the dilemma and grabbed an Oreo from the bag, handing it to her, "One for the road" she said, smiling, "I'm Annabeth, by the way." Millie took the Oreo and grinned, "Millie" she replied.

I smirked at Annabeth as if to say, _breaking the rules now, are we? _She just rolled her eyes and grabbed an Oreo for herself, picking up the bag and taking it to the kitchen. I started moving towards the bunks with Millie, and she slipped her small hand into mine, looking up at me questioningly. I just smiled and held her hand, giving it a small squeeze as we walked to her bed.

She jumped into her bed and got under the covers silently, I grinned, tucking her in like my mom would do to me when I was her age, and ruffled her hair teasingly, "Night Millie" I whispered, and she whispered back without hesitation, "Night Percy."

I walked back out to the main room of the tent to see Annabeth smiling at me, "She's adorable" she said softly, stepping towards me.

I smiled, "Yea, no thought filter on what she says though" I joked. Annabeth laughed a little and put her arms around my neck, "You make an amazing big brother, by the way, totally had me in awe of how you acted with her." She whispered. I smirked, putting my hands on her hips, "Just comes naturally, I guess."

She leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on my lips, "Now we should probably go back to sleep." She mumbled, looking into my eyes. I kissed back, smiling. "Yea, that bed looks comfy."

Annabeth rolled her eyes, "I meant actual sleep Seaweed Brain, stop thinking like such a teenage boy."

She walked past me into our room, with me following behind, "Hey! I AM a teenage boy!"

-Linebreak-

'Where is the lord?'

Not how I expected to be woken up this morning.

'He's somewhere around here, can't you sense it?'

Voices in my head talking about a lord… great. Pegasi, horses or sea life of some sort.

I got up out of my bed slowly, stretching as I listened to their conversation, until I froze at part of it.

'We must warn him, it is near!'

I quickly made my way out of the tent, past a surprised Annabeth and Nico, "Morning Seaw – wait!" she exclaimed in surprise, following after me. I could see Nico shrug and go back to his breakfast out the corner of my eye.

I shielded my eyes as they adjusted to the sunlight and looked around before my eyes settled in on what I was looking for. Two horses were trotting around the forest nervously, neighing and looking in all directions.

I focussed on them and their conversation, and shouted "Over here!"

Both horses turned their heads in my direction suddenly, before they turned and made their way towards me in a rush.

Annabeth had stopped behind me at the sight of the horses, hopefully figuring that I had a reason to sprint out of the tent to these two other than being stupid.

'Lord, there's a monster near!' one spoke in my mind, before they both frantically tried to explain further.

I put up my hands in agitation, willing them to be quiet.

"One of you alone, tell me what monster it was if you know" I said.

The two horses glanced at each other as if having a silent conversation, an action I had previously thought was a human thing, before the ash grey one spoke on their behalf.

'Large snake like thing, I think it's called a drakon, lord.'

I paled, drakon's were one of the worst monsters to fight, and that was just normally, if this one had a specific weakness like the one we'd faced in the Titan war, well, they were short stock on a lot of different parentages right now.

"Which direction?" I asked, they nodded their heads to the south-east before telling me something else, 'There was a figure fighting it as well, we didn't get a clear view of It, but it looked human.'

I nodded, and thanked them for the warning, before turning to Annabeth. The two horses scurried off, obviously eager to get further away from the drakon.

"Get Nico, there's a drakon nearby and someone is fighting it. They might need help, and we can't leave that thing alive if it's close to camp." She nodded, but hesitated, opening her mouth to ask something. I guessed the question incoming and cut her off, "I need you to stay here to make sure the others are safe and help them escape if the drakon gets too close." I didn't add that I wasn't eager to let her fight a drakon, no matter how capable she was. If I could help it, I'd keep her out of dangers like that.

She sighed, rushing into the tent. I waited a few seconds before a wary son of Hades was tossed outside, cursing at whoever had thrown him. Which was definitely Annabeth.

"Oh shut up Nico, we've got a drakon to kill."

"I can multitask all I want, you just don't like that I'm swearing at your girlfriend." He retorted, glaring at me but following as I broke into a sprint towards where the horses had said the drakon was.

It wasn't hard to find, really. We heard the roaring fairly quickly, and then it just took a few moments to see the trees being ripped around like toothpicks nearby to figure out where exactly it was at the moment.

We made up our plan as we ran forward, Nico had shadow travelled ahead to get a look at it and luckily reported that it was a regular drakon. No specifics or requirements for slaughtering it.

"I'll get onto it and look for a weak spot, you keep it distracted and have an eye out for the figure the horses mentioned." He nodded and jumped out ahead, reaching the clearing the drakon had made for itself.

Now, this one was probably small as far as drakons went, maybe 60 or 70 feet long. Charred red scales all along and a sharp looking tail. It was built for killing demigods and was more than a few tonnes out of any of our weight classes. This one looked particularly angry, ripping up trees as if searching for something.

Piece of cake, I thought sarcastically.

Nico ran out in front of it and slashed at it when he got close, before quickly retreating as its attention turned to him. I took the moment to burst out into the clearing myself and get behind the drakon before it noticed me. The monstrosity took an angered swipe at Nico and I jumped onto its backside nimbly, running up the scales until it shifted and I had to drop, grabbing the scales as handholds to stay on board.

Nico kept dodging the drakon's attacks, slicing at it when he could to annoy it. I pulled out Riptide and began searching for a chink in the armour, because it had to have one, likely near its neck. I noted, while scaling the drakon's backside, that it's eyes had been stabbed already. Probably the work of the mysterious figure, who had yet to make an appearance, but if it had the skill to take out the eyes, I doubted whoever it was would have died.

My thoughts were cut short as I found the very needed chink. Nico was getting tired and backing away, so I raised Riptide and then stabbed it deep into the flesh. To my surprise, something else buried itself into the skin, right next to my sword. I pulled Riptide and the object out and jumped off to the ground and the drakon wailed in pain and began disintegrating. I got to my feet to see Nico doubled over, scratched up, but okay. Then I looked at the small object in my hands and frowned uncertainly. Nico finally made his way over to me, looking at me questioningly. I held up the object for him to see and his eyes widened.

It was a pure silver arrow.

"Artemis…" Nico muttered under his breath, looking around the trees. He kept his sword out, and I felt like that was a good idea, so I kept Riptide in front of me cautiously.

A tree rattled in front of us, and we turned to it, looking at each other and fully prepared to take on a Goddess, even if that was a horrible idea.

Instead, a slim figure dropped out of the tree calmly and regarded us with electric blue eyes, looking very amused.

Our cousin grinned at our faces. "Man, you guys are paranoid."

Nico put his sword away slowly, still unsure, "Thalia? What are you doing here?" I asked for him.

"Coming to warn you two, when this big worm got in my way." She responded, putting away her bow calmly.

Nico and I looked at eat other, and I shrugged. "Our camp is this way." I said, turning and walking, Nico followed and Thalia came up beside me, keeping pace.

"Well, it won't be for long" she muttered, looking at us.

I gave her a sideways glance, as did Nico, and she elaborated, "Artemis has lead the search for you guys all through North America without finding you, and Athena has decided the next most likely place is Europe, despite Lady Artemis's disagreement. You guys need to pack up and leave."

We reached the camp and I sighed, looking over the peaceful forest we were going to have to abandon.

"How long do we have?" Nico asked. Thalia sighed, "They plan to start looking tomorrow at dawn." She said, "Something about planning where to start, they'd probably only reach Switzerland by midday, but I'd suggest being out of here by tonight. They've stopped checking on America."

Nico huffed, "Great, we're going to have to tell the others and get them on board with leaving, I don't know if Tessa and Jake will care, they don't seem to be from around here, but Marc might."

I nodded reluctantly, "I'm going to have to take Millie to see her dad and let him know, I told her she'd be able to visit him, if we're leaving the least I can do is let him know, I'll do it while you and Annabeth pack up with the others."

Thalia froze, "Annabeth is here?" she asked, looking at us with wide eyes.

Nico shrugged, "We had to get some stuff from camp and Poseidon tipped her off, she found me in the forest and made me bring her back."

I had a bemused smile on my face as I looked at Thalia, "Did you honestly think she'd just sit at camp idly?"

"No, of course not, but this has to be some sort of time record, it's barely been a week" Thalia noted dryly.

I opened the flap to the tent and lead Thalia in, I'd probably need her help with the whole informing everyone of what was going on thing, besides, it might be useful to get her up to speed on our situation, so she could tell Artemis. It'd be good for the gods who favoured us to know what's going on for us, and so far I figured only Hermes and Hestia knew.


	8. The Gods have a Chat

**Hades**

Sometimes, I really loathed being Lord of the Underworld.

Normally it was fine, despite getting the obvious short straw when Zeus, Poseidon and I drew lots, our domains suited us how they were.

Right now though, my home in the Underworld was much too close to something else for it to be enjoyed in the slightest.

Tartarus.

Sure, monsters left all the time through the doors of death, which was normal, nothing could be done to stop it, but it didn't threaten the Underworld.

Now, however, something worse than monsters was moving about, dusting themselves off and making me very nervous, because they were close to the pit connecting the Underworld to Tartarus, and they wanted out.

So of course, I had come to Olympus, blast Zeus and his rules of when I was to be here. Even if this was less urgent, I didn't take orders from him. I'd brought Persephone as well, as I wasn't about to leave her in danger in the Underworld. Thanatos and I had discussed the situation at length and would take turns venturing back to make sure the spirits were still being judged well and the system was upheld.

I pushed through the doors of the throne room with ease and walked straight to the middle of the thrones. Zeus was present, as were Hera, Athena, Poseidon, Aphrodite, Hermes and Hestia. I nodded to Poseidon and Hestia politely, Athena and Hera weren't of notice at the moment, they were on my list of fools thinking it was wise to anger Poseidon's son. Aphrodite wasn't paying me any attention anyways, so I felt no need to nod to her.

Zeus looked me over and his eyes flared, "Hades, what are you doing here?"

I glared at him as he was doing to me, "I have urgent news."

Athena perked up, naturally, "Has there been a noteworthy death?" her voice full of implication, which managed to bring in the attention of all the gods present. Poseidon and Aphrodite were both now on high alert, Aphrodite's reasons were a bit less genuine in nature, but even I knew that she held some amount of fondness for Percy, aside from his love life, her obvious concern.

"No, Athena, "I spat, looking at her distastefully. "This is much more important than your petty quest to murder an innocent Demigod."

I felt one of the sets of eyes in the room burning into me and turned to see Poseidon with a grateful look on his face. I let a small smile come upon my face for a moment before wiping it away and facing Zeus again.

"There are a few, erm, residents of Tartarus making moves, and their goals are obvious."

The atmosphere darkened considerably and Zeus paled a little, which I almost smirked at, if not for the urgency of the situation.

Zeus spoke up, "What is it, have the Titans reformed to make another petty attempt? Or are there some renegade Giants still looking for a shot at us." He tried to play off our past enemies, though the memories of the past two wars were still fresh, and we all knew that while Zeus's guesses wouldn't be as hard as those wars, they'd still be a challenge of their own.

However, neither was the case. In this rare instance, I truly wished that it could have been Kronos or Gaea again.

"While those two situations would be difficult to overcome in themselves, what with our best Heroes in exile because of you." I shot a pointed glare at those in the room who had agreed to the death sentence, as did the Gods in the room whom had opposed it. "This is a much, much worse threat. A small group of Primordials are attempting to rise, and I'm uncertain as to if there is anything we can do to stop them from escaping Tartarus."

Zeus's face contorted into a mix of shock and fear, before he turned to face Hermes, "Summon the others, quickly."

Hermes, at speeds that were fast even by his own standards, sent out word to the rest of the council. All of them answered and appeared in their thrones within seconds, and I wondered what exactly Hermes had used as his message.

Definitely not the standard 'Council Meeting' alert. It took hours for everyone to make their way here with those.

Thirteen pairs of eyes now looked upon me, as Zeus motioned for me to recap what I'd said.

"There are Primordials rising from Tartarus, we probably can't stop them." I said, shrugging after summarizing the situation. Faces paled, but no one uttered a word, as opposed to the usual yelling and shouting that would erupt amongst the council.

Artemis spoke first, "Are they using the Doors of Death?"

I shook my head, "Most of them are, but I've sensed at least one very near the pit in the underworld that leads to Tartarus. I believe she will make her way out there, to attack my palace."

Demeter's eyes widened, "Your palace is in danger and you are h-" I put up a hand and a firm glare, "Quiet Demeter, don't think so lowly of me that I would leave my own Wife in danger. Persephone is safe, here on Olympus." I growled, effectively shutting up the annoying Cereal Goddess.

Poseidon picked up on something else in my words. "She? You know which Primordial it is?"

I nodded, "It appears Nyx is very agitated, and many of her children down there with her will follow her. As far as I can tell, Akhlys and Erebus have been searching for the Doors of Death. Accompanied by a few other Primordial children of Nyx and Erebus."

Apollo scratched his chin, "Didn't Athena's kid say Percy fought Akhlys and beat her? She might want revenge and be helping to attack us to get to him."

Dionysus snorted, "She was beat by the boy once, you'd think she'd learn the lesson. Maybe there is an immortal as foolish as Ares."

Hestia's quiet voice managed to ring out through the Hall of the Gods, "She doesn't need to fear being beaten by Perseus Jackson, she'll be attacking us, and as long as Zeus keeps up his idiotic ideas of murdering the young man, he will not be fighting for us."

Artemis nodded in agreement, as did I. "Yes, they obviously know what's going on here, what better time to strike at the Olympians than when they've chased away their greatest Champion."

"Silence Hades." Zeus warned, glaring at me. I just glared back, "Just because you are King does not mean I will follow you when you make stupid decisions, Brother." I retorted, giving him a warning as well.

Poseidon broke up our standoff, "Zeus, try to see sense. If the Primordials strike, we will need all our children to help us fight them. We cannot watch from the sidelines this time, and we cannot win without their help."

Zeus huffed, "You speak as if they will not aid us." I sighed, honestly, we'd have been so much better off with Poseidon as King of the Gods.

Hestia would be an even better ruler, but she did not wish for any sorts of positions like that.

Speaking of Hestia, it was she who spoke up again, "That's because they won't" she said softly. Looking at both Poseidon and I with a sad smile. She knew we knew that, besides, it was our sons out there, on the run.

Well, there were some unclaimed and that new Hermes boy, as well as Athena's daughter. Athena would be surprised if she found out her daughter was not at camp. Dionysus made regular checks with Chiron on activities attendance to see who was present, but it was obvious the Centaur's loyalties put the Demigods first, he was marking her as present. Hestia could sense her presence with Percy and Nico, as could I and Poseidon.

"Of course they will," Hera scoffed, "They are children of the Gods, why would they not fight for the Gods?" Leave it to the Goddess of Family to not understand that the Demigods were their own family.

I was the Lord of the Dead and I knew more about the campers than she did, if only because I kept track of my children.

Apollo and Hermes chuckled, despite the tense situation. They quieted under the glares of Hera and Zeus, but didn't back down, as Apollo spoke, "The Campers are more loyal to Percy than they are to us. Obviously, he's lead them through wars and been by their sides, we've just been up here."

Various Gods seemed like they wanted to speak up, but Hermes interrupted, "That includes all of your kids," He pointed at Athena, "your kids," He pointed now at Ares, "your kids," Dionysus, "and your kids, " Zeus.

Poseidon grinned as Apollo jumped in again, "Not to mention the rest of our kids, and probably all the Minor Gods kids as well."

Athena scoffed, as did Ares, "As If my children would be Loyal to a child of Poseidon over their own Mother." She spoke up.

Hestia, apparently feeling feisty and talkative today, scoffed right back, "That's why one of them left camp to go be with him in his exile and none of the hundreds of Greek and Roman demigods who are all fully aware of her absence at Camp have spoken a word of it to us."

Athena furrowed her eyebrows, "Who… Annabeth." Her eyes darkened with an emotion rarely seen on the Wisdom Goddess, sadness.

"Besides the obvious loyalty factors. Annabeth and Percy are the leaders of Camp Half Blood, the Camp doesn't make decisions of war without them, and both of them are absent." I noted, "And the Roman Praetors are both friends with Percy, Annabeth and Nico. Now they've made peace with the Greeks, and they respect the Son of Poseidon. They will not make a move without Camp Half Blood with them."

Zeus clenched his jaw, looking over each God and Goddess in the room. Finally, he spoke, but it was not what the majority of the council had hoped to hear.

"Continue the search, we will find Jackson and the others and finish what was started. Our children will fight for us, like they always have."

Many heads shook in disbelief before they flashed out of the throne room, most to go continue the search that had now moved to Europe. Though I could feel that Nico had moved to America already, presumably with the others.

He was safe. I realized I'd have to thank Artemis and Zeus's daughter for warning them to move. If the Lady of the Hunt had been in agreement with killing Jackson, my son would already be dead, along with the rest of them.

The flashes stopped and I glanced around, noticing that only six of us remained.

Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Hestia, Demeter and I.

The children of Kronos. How refreshing.

"You're making a mistake, Zeus." Surprising us all once again, it was Hestia who spoke up.

She seemed to smirk at me as if reading my thoughts, which I wouldn't put past her.

"Don't accuse me of such things, Hestia. I had thought you were the level-headed sibling here. And yet you have countered me at every turn in this meeting."

The flames in Hestia's eyes flickered more brightly, and the room got slightly hotter.

"Perhaps," I interjected, "You should take note of the fact that you're right. Hestia is the most sensible here. It should make it clear to you that you're making the wrong choice if she has opposed you so firmly."

My eyes locked with Poseidon's and I nudged my head towards our siblings, mouthing 'advantage'.

Despite Athena's constant insults and claims that my Brother was an idiot, he caught on at once. Being perceptive when he needed to be, a trait his son had gotten.

Our advantage, came in the form of our siblings. Hestia, Poseidon and I were all against Zeus's actions to kill Percy, Hera and Zeus, of course, were in favor, though Hera wasn't very interested in it, she was acting mostly just as support for Zeus, as his wife. If Zeus changed his mind, she wouldn't oppose it on this matter.

That left Demeter, who was indifferent to the situation, but if she could be convinced to take a stance…

Demeter was the swing vote. Not an easy one to turn in our favour, for me at least. She hated me with gusto, but Hestia and Poseidon… they could do it.

I noticed Poseidon shuffle over to me, as Hestia and Zeus had gotten into a debate. He whispered, "We need Demeter."

I nodded, "I can't do it, has to be you or Hestia."

Poseidon smiled dryly. "Hestia is a little preoccupied. I snickered immaturely, "I haven't seen her this riled up since she first got out of Father's stomach."

Poseidon grinned at me, "That was the only time I've actually seen her fight, should we be worried for our brother's health?" I just grunted in response, "If I feel him dying, I'll start to consider holding her off. She can be scary."

"So," he got back on track for us, "How can we get Demeter?"

I thought about it for a few minutes, Poseidon leaving me be, as he tried to think as well, before I widened my eyes, surprised neither of us had thought of this sooner. "Persephone." I murmured.

Poseidon looked at me strangely, "What can she do about it?"

"No no, you dolt. Demeter loves Persephone, her child. She loves her children almost as much as you or Hermes, get her to sympathize. Percy is in danger, your only son. How would she feel in your situation?"

He nodded and walked over to Demeter, greeting her solemnly before speaking, putting a glum look on his face.

I tuned back into Hestia and Zeus.

"…You're being blinded by fear, Zeus, don't forget what Annabeth reminded you of, Perseus's fatal flaw. He would never turn on us."

Zeus turned red, "You said yourself that his loyalty is to his friends, not to the Gods, like theirs to him. His flaw does not factor in here!"

I chipped in, "He is loyal to Poseidon, and has respect for a number of the Gods. Besides, he's fought the Titans and Giants, and some of these Primordials, why would he suddenly change his mind and think they'd be better suited to rule?"

Zeus glared at me, "Where has all the sudden confidence arisen from, you two are usually quiet."

Hestia shrugged, "Young Perseus is brave, kind and giving. I will not stand by as he is murdered just because you're paranoid."

I smirked, "It's fairly easy to be confident in our argument when every second Is proof that we're right."

"And what does that mean?" Zeus questioned.

"Think about it, brother, you tried to murder Percy Jackson in front of his father, his girlfriend, his cousins and his close friends. Just because you thought he might turn on you and he's powerful. He had to go into exile and hide away from the world, separated from his home, his friends, and most of his family. Yet instead of getting angry and plotting revenge against you like most people in his spot would do. He decided to just go around helping Demigods, waiting for you to see sense so he can go home and have some peace."

Zeus stared at me murderously before declaring, "This matter is closed. The search will continue until we need the other Gods for more important situations. We have bigger problems than listening to your complaints."

Hestia glared at the Lord of the Sky with such ferocity it made me wonder if she was about to blow her top, but she simply put forward a closing statement, "You're going to need Perseus Jackson to help fight the Primordials Zeus, and ignoring the calls to let him live will be the death of all of us, all on you."

With that, the Goddess of the Hearth disappeared in a curtain of flame, mocking Zeus's dramatic entrances and exits.

Zeus turned to me as if to tell me off as well, but I just shook my head at him disappointedly and vanished, seeing Poseidon gearing up to do the same. He didn't look as glum as before, so perhaps his chat with Demeter had been beneficial.

**Hestia**

It was rare that you would ever find me anywhere but the Hearth on Olympus or the fire at Camp Half Blood, but I needed somewhere else to relax a little.

That's why I was sitting on a bench in Central Park in the form of a twenty five year old woman. One that mortals were subconsciously steering clear of because the air around her almost seemed heated and dry.

I felt a cooler breeze blow by and looked up momentarily to spot my brother, Poseidon, approaching me slowly.

He looked almost cautious, but I knew that the Sea God wasn't afraid to confront me. We'd always been rather close, with his laid back attitude, we got along much better than most of the Gods.

"You're scaring the mortals, sister" he said calmly, sitting down. I slowly took note of the grass drying out around me and relaxed. The cool breeze seemed to return, obviously Poseidon's doing.

"Sorry" I murmured, looking down. "Just, Zeus's actions are too much."

Poseidon chuckled, "We haven't seen you this agitated in quite a long time."

I smiled slowly, "I may not be one for violence, but there are some things that are worth fighting for."

Looking up at him, I saw him smiling appreciatively at me, "Your son is one of those things, if anyone deserves a happy ending to their lives, it's him and Annabeth. I plan on seeing that happen."

He nodded before speaking, "Despite how tempting some of the council makes it at times to disagree, our family is worth fighting for as well. No matter how foolish Zeus or Athena may be or how many times they'll threaten my son. The Gods are still a better option than the Titans, Giants… or now the Primordials." He rambled, an annoyed tone to his words, "Honestly though, we were slightly wrong, the Demigods will fight for us eventually." He added. I cocked an eyebrow at him, asking for explanation.

He smirked, "As hard headed and stupid as some Gods may think my son is, he knows very much. He's well aware of the fact that Zeus as king is better than a Primordial, or any other beings that may challenge our power as Olympians." I nodded slowly, "You think Perseus would actually come to our aid? Despite everything?"

He shook his head, "Him personally coming to our aid, I'm not sure, he's cautious enough to expect Zeus to blast him as soon as he sees him rather than accept his help and leave him alone. But aiding us in other ways… well, he's a very resourceful Demigod."

Poseidon now smirked knowingly, "Besides, as pointed out, my son is the one with an army of half-bloods at his disposal, not Lord Zeus."

I shook my head, smiling. Leave it to Poseidon to find a way to one up his brother in a situation like this.

"Anyways, we have some time still to prepare, Hades prepared some defenses to delay the Primordials, we have anywhere between four months and a year to prepare. That is assuming no drastic developments occur." He stood, brushing off his shorts, as if any dirt or dust would actually have settled on them.

I remained seated, only looking up when I felt his gaze on me. I glanced at him quizzically before meeting his eyes.

"Do you think you'll be fighting in this war, with the primordials?" he asked, his relaxed tone becoming more serious.

I sighed, not truly knowing the answer myself, "I don't know Poseidon, it depends on how many of our enemies get on my nerves as bad as Zeus has lately when they arrive here." I responded wittily.

He grinned, taking the humor in stride like he always did, "Lets hope they poke you with a stick Hestia, you're the scariest of all our siblings when you're angry."

The Lord of the Seas winked playfully at me before vanishing, leaving the fresh sea breeze behind.


End file.
